INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana State Senator Jack Sandlin said he doesn't know how an offensive post ended up on his Facebook wall Sunday evening, and it doesn't represent his opinions.
The post, since deleted, is a meme with a photo of a women's march from Saturday and the words, "In one day, Trump got more fat women out walking, than Michelle Obama did in 8 years."
Sandlin's follow-up post had more than 1,000 comments, before it was also deleted.
His explanation wasn't enough for many commenters.
Andrea Noble Kendall said:
YOU are the reason we march. You should be ashamed of yourself for your treatment of women and your mocking of issues important to us. It's all in archives, liar. I will be calling!
Amie Neiling said:
You're not sure how it got there? It got there by you sharing it and thinking it was a harmless joke. It got there by you not realizing how horribly offensive this is. And it's STILL there because you still think this way, while you lie about it.
Wendy Miller said:
It's there because you shared it, Senator. To salvage any respect from this situation, the only thing you could have done was to take responsibility and apologize. I am a Hoosier and I am completely disgusted by this, and by your subsequent denial. Please, take responsibility.
Monday morning, Sandlin released a statement saying,
Yesterday, an offensive message related to the Women’s March on Washington appeared on my Facebook page. It’s unclear to me how this ended up on my page, but I have removed it. This message in no way represents my views toward women, and I sincerely apologize to anyone who may have seen it.
Sen. Sandlin says a friend called at 11:30 last night to alert him to the Facebook post. "I was horrified when I saw it," says he removed it pic.twitter.com/EDmYdfIsu8
— Katie Heinz (@katieheinz6) January 23, 2017
Sandlin addressed the post as he was leaving a committee hearing at the Statehouse Monday afternoon.
"I got a call last night, somebody woke me up at 11:30 and told me I should look at my page. I did, and I was kinda horrified at what I saw," said Sandlin.
When asked about how the post got there, Sandlin could only say that they were 'investigating' the incident and that he was not the only person with access to his pages.
Although, he did not deny that he could have 'accidentally' shared the post, he said that his passwords have been changed and they have limited access to his accounts.
"I think it's horrible, I mean, I was horrified when I saw it last night and that's why I removed it right away," said Sandlin. "The demonstrators in the streets are out there because of what our founding fathers set in place and I think they certainly have a right to be there."
Sandlin frequently shares political news on his page. Most of it is local, but on Nov. 5, he shared an article from JoeforAmerica.com with the headline: "BREAKING: Florida Election Employees Caught Faking 1,000's of Stolen Absentee Ballots in Massive Voter Fraud Scheme!"
That story has not been substantiated, and according to the Tampa Bay Times, the state's attorney's office found no evidence of anything "illegal or improper."
Sandlin represents District 36, which covers most of downtown Indianapolis, from Belmont Street to Shelby Street, and as far south as County Line Road.
Sandlin won District 36 with 59 percent of the vote.
According to his website, Sandlin is the president of Jack Sandlin & Associates, a fraud examination, private investigation and security consulting business. He also previously worked for the Southport Police Department and the Indianapolis Police Department.
