A Trump supporter running for a North Carolina school board has defended a racist Facebook post where he called Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot a "dumb monkey."
James England, a candidate for the Gaston County Board of Education, has shared several controversial posts on his Facebook page this summer.
England, who lives in Gastonia, recently shared a meme that criticized Lightfoot, who is Black, over the high crime rate in her city, according to the Gaston Gazette.
"Looks like a dumb monkey," England added alongside the meme.
He told the newspaper that he stood by the remark and claimed he didn't call Lightfoot a monkey because she is Black. The comparison has long been used as a slur to denigrate Black people.
"Generally what I post is the damn truth. It's just a fact. We can't cover up the truth," England said. "It's not because of her color. I've seen white people who look like monkeys," he said.
At the weekend, England made the comparison again.
Alongside a picture of Clint Eastwood and an orangutan, England wrote: "Clint hanging out in Chicago with the Mayor."
England also defended a post from July where he called a Black man a "Black b*****d."
Alongside a picture that showed a Black man attacking a white man, England wrote: "The Black b*****ds need to be shot."
He told the Gazette that he still agreed with his remark, but conceded the use of the word "b*****d" was harsh.
England and Lightfoot's office have been contacted for comment.
On his Facebook page, England regularly rails against Democrats and Black Lives Matter protesters, while expressing his support for the Confederate flag, law enforcement and President Donald Trump.
In recent posts, he has attacked the Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, who is the first Black and South Asian American woman on a major party ticket, calling her an "idiot" and a "phony."
In late August, he shared a post that made false claims about Harris' race.
"Another idiot socialist who don't know what they are and they lie about that," England wrote alongside the post.
Earlier in August, a post England shared about hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug Trump has repeatedly touted as a treatment for coronavirus against the advice of health officials, was flagged by Facebook as containing false information.
Board members in Gaston County are elected on a non-partisan basis, but England wrote on Facebook that he is running as a conservative in order to "keep history, the Bible and police in our schools" and "throw out the socialist democrat teachers who are brain washing our children."
Dot Guthrie, who has represented Gastonia on the school board since 2013, and the Gaston County Board of Education, have been contacted for comment.
