Spin doctor who criticised Obama girls for 'boredom' at turkey pardoning faces calls to be sacked
Republican's spokeswoman apologises after lecturing bored daughters to 'show a little class'
A US lawmaker's communications director was facing calls for her to be sacked after a Facebook rant about President Barack Obama's daughters prompted widespread anger.
Elizabeth Lauten, spokeswoman for Republican Congressman Stephen Fincher of Tennessee, wrote a scathing post to her Facebook account scolding Malia and Sasha Obama, 16 and 13, for looking bored while attending a public event with their father on Wednesday.
In the post, since deleted but widely reproduced in screen grabs, Lauten tells the girls: "Try showing a little class. At least respect the part you play."
The girls stood beside Obama - looking vaguely bored - as he issued the annual Thanksgiving turkey "pardon", saving two birds from the dinner table.
The underwhelmed expressions of the teenaged sisters sparked mainly amused comment, but Lauten's remarks were notably more caustic.
"Then again, your mother and father don't respect their positions very much, or the nation for that matter," Lauten wrote.