Minnesota State Senator and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate Karin Housley compared former First Lady Michelle Obama to a chimp in a 2009 Facebook post.

“I do miss Nancy Reagan. Ronald even more. Speaking of Bedtime for Bonzo, I think even that chimp stood up straighter than Michelle,” Housley wrote in the comments of a post she had made after meeting the Queen.

Housley has a history of writing insensitive and inflammatory posts on social media.

After former President Barack Obama’s election in 2008, Housley began attacking then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s appearance.

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“Would we rather have our women in politics look like Hillary Clinton?” Housley wrote in a 2009 column for the Stillwater Gazette shortly after praising former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on her looks.

In other posts, she mocked Clinton’s weight, calling her a “porker in a royal blue pantsuit,” and derided the LGBT community by using the word “queer” to make fun of her friends.

Housley is currently running against Democratic Sen. Tina Smith. Smith, who was serving as Minnesota’s lieutenant governor at the time, was appointed to the Senate by Gov. Mark Dayton (D) after the position was left open by Al Franken’s resignation due to sexual harassment allegations.

Housley is running far behind Smith in the polls, with recent surveys putting Smith a comfortable 16 points ahead of her opponent.

When asked to comment on the discovery of her old posts, Jake Schneider, a spokesman for Housley’s campaign, attacked the media and claimed that the Huffington Post who uncovered the remarks is an extension of the Democratic Party.

“This is what the radical left does when they are losing—they attack Republicans so they don’t have to come up with solutions to the problems Minnesotans are facing,” Schneider wrote in a statement.

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