GOP staffer resigns after criticizing Obama daughters’ demeanor, dress

The top spokeswoman to Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.) resigned Monday after calling President Obama’s daughters classless in a Facebook post over the Thanksgiving break, according to several media reports.

{mosads}Elizabeth Lauten, Fincher’s communications director, stepped down just days after her Facebook comments went viral ripping Sasha and Malia Obama for their demeanor and dress at the White House turkey pardoning.

The girls, 13 and 16, appeared bored during their father’s annual Thanksgiving address.

Lauten later apologized to the Obama teenagers, saying in a subsequent post: “I quickly judged the two young ladies in a way that I would never have wanted to be judged myself as a teenager.”

But the damage was done, and Lauten came under a torrent of online criticism, including from top-ranking Republicans. Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer said on Twitter that “children, especially the first daughters, are off limits.”

It wasn’t Lauten’s first social media snafu. Last summer, she tweeted from Fincher’s official account: “God I love this song. And beach music. AND shagging #pandora.” Lauten said she was referring to dancing, not the sexual slang term.

The episode showed the political pitfalls for lawmakers and their staffers, as they increasingly turn to social media to get their message out.

“Dear Sasha and Malia, I get you’re both in those awful teen years, but you’re a part of the First Family, try showing a little class. At least respect the part you play. Then again your mother and father don’t respect their positions very much, or the nation for that matter, so I’m guessing you’re coming up a little short in the ‘good role model’ department,” Lauten wrote in her Facebook post, which was later deleted.

“Nevertheless, stretch yourself. Rise to the occasion. Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar,” she continued. “And certainly don’t make faces during televised public events.”

— Kristina Wong contributed to this report.