The Republican state senator challenging Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) once compared former first lady Michelle Obama’s posture to that of Peggy, the chimpanzee costar of 1951’s “Bedtime for Bonzo,” HuffPost reported Monday.
“I do miss Nancy Reagan,” Minnesota Republican state senator and current U.S. Senate candidate Karin Housley wrote on Facebook in April 2009, after the Obamas met with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II. “Ronald even more. Speaking of Bedtime for Bonzo, I think even that chimp stood up straighter than Michelle. Uh-oh, someone is going to make a comment.”
Former President Ronald Reagan, before his political career began, costarred in “Bedtime for Bonzo” opposite Diana Lynn.
HuffPost highlighted other social media comments by Housley, including when she wondered, also in April 2009, “Would we rather have our women in politics look like Hillary Clinton [or Sarah Palin]?” A few months later, she called Clinton a “porker in a royal blue pantsuit.”
Housley’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to TPM’s request for comment.
Campaign spokesperson Jake Schneider told HuffPost in a statement: “It’s not surprising the Huffington Post—basically an extension of the Democratic Party—would do Tina Smith’s dirty work for her. This is what the radical left does when they are losing—they attack Republicans so they don’t have to come up with solutions to the problems Minnesotans are facing.”
Read HuffPost’s full report here.
