Rep. Aaron Schock’s Communications Director Resigned

Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) has fired his communications director, Benjamin Cole, after Cole posted racially offensive comments on his Facebook page.

In a statement to the Peoria Journal-Star, Schock said that Cole offered the congressman his resignation.

“I am extremely disappointed by the inexcusable and offensive online comments made by a member of my staff,” Schock (pictured) told the Illinois newspaper. “I would expect better from any member of my team. Upon learning about them, I met with Mr. Cole and he offered his resignation.”

According to Buzzfeed and ThinkProgress, Cole wrote on his Facebook page that he thought, “They should build a mosque on White House grounds.” He also wrote in the comments of that post that “It would be nice for the President to have his own house of worship, since he’s not been able to find one suitable in DC since 2004 when he moved here.”

In an October 2013 post, Cole also made fun of black people walking near his apartment in Washington D.C.

“So apparently the closing of the National Zoo has forced animals to conduct their mating rituals on my street. #gentrifytoday Pt.1,” Cole wrote according to Think Progress, which first reported the news.

Cole first gained notoriety after attempting to get the The Washington Post‘s Ben Terris to delete photos he took while reporting on the lavish, Downton Abbey-style furnishings of Schock’s D.C. office.

“Are you taking pictures of the office?” Cole asked initially. “Who told you you could do that?…Okay, stay where you are. You’ve created a bit of a crisis in the office.”