A state senator in Missouri, Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D) first came to national attention for delivering a 39-hour filibuster in an effort to block an anti-gay bill in her state.
This August, Chapelle-Nadal recieved even more attention for posting on Facebook that she hoped President Trump was assassinated, a statement she has since apologized for.
Now, she's using the controversial Dove ad to make another statement about the president of the United States.
For the unfamiliar, the ad featured a black model in a brown shirt taking off her shirt, revealing a white model in a white shirt; this magical transformation from black to white was supposed to underscore just how well Dove soap works at getting you clean.
According to the Philadelphia Tribune, the Missouri senator retweeted an image that showed Trump's face onto the body of the black Dove ad model, and Adolf Hitler over the white model.
She said she discovered the image from activists currently protesting police brutality in St. Louis.
pic.twitter.com/p3VEKImzcT— MariaChappelleNadal (@MariaChappelleN) October 12, 2017
As you might imagine, Chappelle-Nadal was quickly criticized. Her colleague Representative Phil Christofanelli (R), called the post “shameful," and Representative Jean Evans (R) complained that Chappelle-Nadal was continuing her “disgusting attacks on our president.”
Chappelle-Nadal, who has been critical of Trump's failure to help the people of Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, may have apologized for her social media post back in August … but, she has no plans to apologize for this image.
“I have a First Amendment right to share my opinion, and if a meme is offensive to people, they should look at the First Amendment again,” she said. “Then ask yourself why you have different qualifications for a black woman of Puerto Rican descent than other people putting up a meme with no words. It’s Twitter.”