GOP official resigns after calling East St. Louis ‘s—hole of the universe’

A Republican official in Illinois has resigned after referring to East St. Louis as the “shithole of the universe.”

Blair Garber — who served as the chairman of the Illinois Lottery Control Board and was a member of the state’s Republican Central Committee — stepped down from both roles following the comments, The State-Journal Register reported.

“Mr. Garber has apologized for his comments and is resigning from the Illinois Lottery Control Board effective immediately,” Rachel Bold, a spokeswoman for Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R), said Wednesday, according to the Springfield newspaper.

Garber’s comment came after country singer Charlie Daniels took to Twitter to defend President Trump following his reported reference to Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as “shithole countries” during a meeting with lawmakers at the White House. Trump, who faced widespread backlash and accusations of racism, pushed back against reports of the comments and denied he is racist.

“Mr Durbin I’m so sorry that your virgin ears were blistered by the absolutely horrible language president Trump used in front of you,” Daniels tweeted last month, referring to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).

“The president actually thought he was addressing a meeting of members of congress , not a kindergarten class hope you didn’t wet your pants too.”

According to The State Journal-Register, Garber last month responded to the country singer’s tweet.

“Charlie, Durbin’s home town is (get this) east St. Louis illinois! The shithole of the universe! Just do a google search,” Garber reportedly tweeted.

After the comments were reported, multiple lawmakers called for Garber to resign or for him to be fired.