A Toledo city councilwoman is defending herself after a meme she posted on social media calling red states “Dumbf—kistan” sparked outrage.

Yvonne Harper, a Democrat, drew backlash last week after she posted a map showing the states that voted for President Trump in the 2016 election labeled as “Dumbf—kistan” and the states who voted for Hillary Clinton labeled as “United States of America.”

She later deleted the post and said she she shouldn’t have used profanity to make her point, but explained she was only trying to mobilize voters.

“I was posting as a constituent,” Ms. Harper told a local ABC affiliate. “My job is to get people out to vote, and that’s what I thought I was doing. Didn’t realize that I was gonna draw this big uproar.”

In a Facebook post, Ms. Harper said she took a screenshot of the meme off the internet and failed to remove the profanity before posting her own version.

“I know that I am an elected official. But I am ALSO a person. A WOMAN, an individual, a constituent who has been listening to the confirmation hearings, the news and the current President’s (elected official) statements,” she wrote. “I admit that I did leave the curse words on it but to only get voters out there no matter what — but I was posting under my personal FB page and I made sure it was not council page — voters need to understand that I am a solid voter and a citizen.”

“I have never ever ran away from a statement that I have made — I stand up — I won’t hide from my comments,” she added.

In her post, Ms. Harper criticized Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh for his “temperament” in his emotional testimony denying multiple sexual misconduct allegations during his confirmation hearings, and she slammed President Trump for supporting him.

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