Trump backer who wanted to send Michelle Obama to Africa portrays himself as the victim

Carl Paladino, the Trump campaign official who drew widespread condemnation for his racist attack on Michelle Obama last week, apologized on Tuesday.

The Daily Beast notes that Paladino, who served as the co-chairman of Trump's New York campaign, has issued a formal statement apologizing for saying that  he wanted Michelle Obama to be “let loose” in Africa so she could live with apes.

"I never intended to hurt the minority community... to them I apologize," said Paladino, who was condemned by his own son on Christmas Eve over his racist tirade.

That said, Paladino was still upset at all the criticism that he received for his original statement, and he said that it has been "horrible... watching my family and friends react to the rabid hordes of attacking parasites we now call activist progressives."

"It’s been a sick, combative year for America," he continued. "We changed the direction of our country and beat back the demons for a few decades. I am proud to have been a part of the making of history. As for the vanquished progressive haters out there spewing their venom at anything that is a reminder of their humiliating defeat, irrelevance is tough to chew on. For the mean-spirited, disoriented press trying to find grounding and recover legitimacy on my back, pray that you still have a job next year because you have lost all credibility with the people."

Paladino concluded his statement by stating emphatically that he is "certainly not a racist," despite the fact that he said Michelle Obama should be "let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortably in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla."

In addition to his racist comments about Michelle Obama, Paladino also said he hoped President Obama "catches mad cow disease" and then "dies before his trial and is buried in a cow pasture next to Valerie Jarret, who died weeks prior, after being convicted of sedition and treason, when a Jihady cell mate mistook her for being a nice person and decapitated her."