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Racist Obama meme on GOP official's Facebook

Racist Obama meme on GOP official's Facebook
Posted at 5:49 PM, May 30, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-30 17:49:12-04

DELTA, Colorado (AP) — A racist Internet meme shared on an official's personal Facebook page was the result of hacking, Members of the Delta County Republican Central Committee say.

Last week, a photo that compared President Barack Obama to the 1950s movie chimpanzee Bonzo appeared on Delta County Committee Chairwoman Linda Sorenson's Facebook page. Committee Vice Chairman Vic Ullrey told The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel that Sorenson did not post the image and that her account was accessed by someone else.

"This whole thing is a hoax. Someone got into the Facebook somehow," Ullrey said. "It was hacked, and somebody got into it, definitely."

Ullrey said Sorenson is not racist and it is unclear why Sorenson was targeted. But he thinks it politically motivated.

"(Hackers posted the image) just to damage the Republican Party, no doubt. . Just to make us look bad," he said.

Sorenson in an interview last week after the image was posted said she didn't care if people were offended by it. She has not commented on the issue since.

Sorenson has been chairwoman of the central committee for about four years. The organization is a collection of two members from each county precinct, and it works to coordinate the Delta County Republican Party before general elections.