Right-wing school board candidate drops out over slew of racist posts — including 'several' likening Obama to a monkey

On Monday, The Journal Newsreported that a candidate for school board in New York's lower Hudson Valley has ended his campaign following reports on a series of racist social media posts he made over the years.

"Screenshots of Facebook posts made by Bobby Palazzo started being shared late Friday. That day, Jeff Pearlman, a Putnam County native and prominent national sports writer, put up a video about the posts, calling Palazzo an 'avowed, clear, 100%, racist individual' who should not serve on a school board," reported Gary Stern. "Palazzo's lewd and profane posts, most from between 2009 and 2018, included several comparing former President Barack Obama to a monkey. Another from 2010 said 'Secret Service uncovers plots to capture the President' and showed a trap set with a watermelon."

These revelations prompted the candidate to withdraw from the race.

"Palazzo, 70, said late Sunday that he was dropping out of the race and that he would not serve if elected. He said the backlash against his posts is 'destroying me and my family,'" the report continued. "Palazzo [said] that his posts were 'stupid,' but that he was bitter at Obama because his career in real estate went sour during the Obama presidency."

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In recent years, a number of school board elections have been marred with racist behavior from candidates.

In 2018, Jeanie Ames, a school board candidate in suburban St. Louis, came under fire for calling former First Lady Michelle Obama a "giant rat" and calling for a total ban on Islam in the United States. And last October, Justin Orlando, a GOP school board candidate in Monroe, Connecticut, insisted there was "nothing racist" about his decision to wear blackface for a costume of "Miami Vice" character Detective Ricardo Tubbs.

This comes as Republicans around the country seek to limit the ways race can be discussed in schools, under the guise of preventing children from being exposed to so-called "critical race theory."