The memes, on the other hand, have constituents of West York, Pa., calling for his resignation.
One of the memes shows a group of orangutans in a wheelbarrow. It says: “Aww … moving day at the Whitehouse has finally arrived.”
Another depicts a dog covered in a towel, with only its eyes and snout showing. “Guide dog for a Muslim woman,” it says. “It’s call a Barka.”
Probably the most inflammatory one was about President Obama. It shows a picture of actor Clint Eastwood in the film “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” and a noose. “Barry, this rope is for you,” the caption says, referring to a nickname for the first black president. “You wanna bring that empty chair over here!”
That last post has been since deleted — it’s unclear whether Facebook or Wasko took it down — but many others still stand, vexing embarrassed borough residents, who have called for Wasko to resign.
“He left no one behind in his hate,” borough council president Shawn Mauck told The Washington Post. “I don’t think there’s a protected class or a group that he did not hate on. … When I saw the posts, I wanted to throw up.”
West York residents called for Wasko be kicked out of office at two meetings, including one on Monday night. A petition demanding his resignation on MoveOn.org has been signed by 1,165 people — a number roughly equal to a quarter of the borough’s population.
According to census figures, 8.5 percent of the borough’s residents are black; 9.1 percent are Hispanic or Latino.
That seems unlikely.
Wasko, defiant, told local ABC-affiliate WHTM that the controversy is being stoked by his enemies to deflect attention from political corruption and misdeeds. He vowed to publicly expose them.
“The racist stuff, I admit, I did that,” he told WHTM. “I don’t care what people label me as. But it’s just a smoke screen, to cover up what’s really going on.”
The reporter asked if he regretted the posts or the people he has offended.
“No, I don’t,” he said before quickly moving on. “I’m not going to talk about the racial stuff. That is immaterial right now.”
He said he planned to attend a council meeting where the group planned to censure him. “And I hope the NAACP is there also. I will let them know what’s going on.”
Wasko, a Republican, did not return calls or messages for this article. He was elected in 2013, when he ran unopposed. As West York’s mayor, he has mostly ceremonial duties. The mayor has some oversight over the police department and can invoke emergency powers in an urgent situation. According to Mauck, Wasko was opinionated but mostly harmless.
“He was a bombastic guy,” he said. “If he didn’t agree with you, he told you, but more likely he’d always get in someone’s face.”
But now the de facto face of West York borough has garnered international attention for his incendiary posts.
His constituents held a public forum about the mayor on Saturday. Others signed up to make public comments at Monday’s borough council meeting, which had to be moved to a larger hall.
The line of people who signed up to speak spilled out of the room and snaked around the corner. Police stood guard.
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