A former Florida lawmaker has deleted a Facebook post that suggests President-elect Donald Trump chose James “Mad Dog” Mattis to be Defence Secretary to “exterminate” Muslims.
Allen West, a former member of the House of Representatives, posted a meme to his Facebook page showing a picture of General Mattis with a message that criticises Barack Obama for firing the General to try and “please the Muslims”.
The political commentator denied posting the image and a member of his staff, Michele Hickford, took responsibility and said she was “deeply sorry for the distress”.
“On Friday night, without Allen West’s knowledge or consent, a meme was posted to this Facebook page which was reprehensible in its message,” Ms Hickford, posted on his Mr West’s Facebook page.
“As editor in chief [of Mr West's personal news website], I must take full responsibility for this, although I was not the one who posted it, and it was posted without my knowledge. I neither condone nor support the message included in the meme.
“This meme was not created by me or any of our writers. It was reposted from another source. The image has been removed. Its message was despicable, offensive to many, and a terrible error in judgement by the person who posted it. Furthermore, it does not reflect Col. West's beliefs, principles and values,” Ms Hickford added.
The post was at least 10,000 times before it was taken down, according to Buzzfeed.
The top comments on the post said the meme had gone “too far” and Mr West’s team has not yet given an explanation of why the image was posted initially.
Mr West visited Trump Tower to meet with members of the President-elect’s transition team and apparently national security issues were discussed.
“We talked about some national security issues, and you know how maybe I can continue to serve my country,” Mr West said, the Texas Tribune reported.
