Jillian Rayfield April 19, 2011, 4:42 PM

Orange County Republican party official Marilyn Davenport has apologized for sending out a picture of President Obama as a chimp, beside chimp parents.

In an e-mail sent Monday night to fellow members of the Orange County Republican Central Committee, Davenport wrote: “To my fellow Americans and to everyone else who has seen this email I forwarded and was offended by my action, I humbly apologize and ask for your forgiveness of my unwise behavior. I say unwise because at the time I received and forwarded the email, I didn’t stop to think about the historic implications and other examples of how this could be offensive.”

Davenport had come under fire for sending around the picture as part of an e-mail, which said: “Now you know why no birth certificate.”

In the furor that followed the e-mail becoming public, she offered this explanation: “I’m sorry if my email offended anyone. I simply found it amusing regarding the character of Obama and all the questions surrounding his origin of birth.” She added that the e-mail was intended to be sent “to a select list of friends and acquaintances,” and not to those who might be offended by it.

On Tuesday, she told the OC Weekly: “I wasn’t wise in sending the email out. I shouldn’t have done it. I really wasn’t thinking when I did it. I had poor judgment.”

Scott Baugh, chair of the OC Republican Party, had called on her to resign, but Davenport said she will not, telling the OC Weekly: “I’m not going to resign. I really have no plans to do so. My constituents have told me not to resign, and I’m very happy with their support. Everybody who knows me says they can’t believe people are calling me a racist. I am not a racist, but I do think I need to apologize again with different words.”

Birthers, Marilyn Davenport, Orange County, Racism