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 The Republican congressional aide who wrote a widely-disseminated Facebook post criticizing President Barack Obama's daughters says that she is resigning today. 
 
 Elizabeth Lauten, the communications director for Tennessee Rep. Steven Fincher, told NBC News by phone Monday that her resignation is already "in the works." 
 
 In a post that went viral over the weekend, Lauten wrote that Sasha and Malia Obama should have shown "a little class" during the annual Thanksgiving ceremony to pardon two turkeys at the White House. 
 
 "Rise to the occasion," she wrote. "Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar." 
 
 Lauten later deleted that post and penned an apology on Facebook, writing that she now sees "more clearly just how hurtful my words were." ||||| A GOP staffer will resign after launching a verbal assault on Malia and Sasha Obama in the wake of their appearance at the president’s annual turkey pardoning ceremony last week at the White House. 
 
 Elizabeth Lauten, who served as a communications director for Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.), criticized the two girls in a Facebook rant which eventually went viral. “Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar. And certainly don’t make faces during televised, public events,” wrote Lauten. 
 
 She also said that the Obama daughters, who largely stay out of the limelight, should show “a little class.” 
 
 Many have argued Malia and Sasha were behaving like typical teenagers at the event. They appeared unamused by their father’s corny jokes and at one point Malia declined to pet the Thanksgiving turkey by simply saying, “Nah.” 
 
 RELATED: Obama family goes book shopping 
 
 Lauten has since apologized for her post, admitting, “When I first posted on Facebook I reacted to an article and I quickly judged the two young ladies in a way that I would never have wanted to be judged myself as a teenager.” Lauten’s name became a trending topic amid the controversy, with over 22,000 mentions in 24 hours. She had previously been responsible for a gaffe this summer when she accidentally tweeted about “shagging” on Fincher’s official Twitter account. Now, her resignation is “in the works.” 
 
 This is far from the first time the president’s daughters have been singled out for ridicule on the right. 
 
 In 2010, during the BP oil spill crisis, Glenn Beck mocked Malia for reportedly asking President Obama about the clean-up. 
 
 
 
 “Did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?” said Beck, imitating the president’s daughter. “Ask ‘Daddy’ why he ‘hates black people so much.’ ” The conservative radio host also mocked Malia’s intelligence, saying: “That’s the level of their education, that they’re coming to — they’re coming to Daddy and saying, ‘Daddy, did you plug the hole yet?’ “ 
 
 In 2012, when the president cited Malia and Sasha as influential in his decision to embrace gay marriage, Bristol Palin, the daughter of ex-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, attacked them in a widely criticized blog post. 
 
 “I guess we can be glad that Malia and Sasha aren’t younger, or perhaps today’s press conference might have been about appointing Dora the Explorer as Attorney General because of her success in stopping Swiper the Fox,” Palin wrote. 
 
 That same year right wing firebrand Ann Coulter declared: “Maybe it’s time to start imitating liberals in another way and go after the Obama children.” 
 
 Last year, following President Obama‘s statement that he would support the selling of Plan B, a birth control product, to girls as young as 15, Fox News host Andrea Tantaros speculated about the sex life of Malia, who was 14 years old at the time. 
 
 “Are they gonna put her on birth control? Because he’s very concerned with contraceptives and pharmaceuticals that are going in the mouths of everybody else’s 15-year-old daughter,” Tantaros said, according to Media Matters. 
 
 And that same year the NRA had the audacity to reference the secret service protection of Malia and Sasha in a controversial ad suggesting the president was a “hypocrite” on gun control. When Obama was running for president in 2008, he stated emphatically that politicians’ families should be “off limits.” But that hasn’t stopped some of his political enemies from occasionally taking potshots at his children. 
 
 If there’s any consolation, it’s nothing new. Rush Limbaugh famously compared Chelsea Clinton to a dog and said Amy Carter was the “most unattractive presidential daughter in the history of the country.” 
 
 This piece has been updated since its original publication. ||||| The GOP staffer who called Malia and Sasha Obama classless has resigned today following a storm of outrage over her comments. 
 
 Elizabeth Lauten wrote a diatribe on Thanksgiving, slamming the First Daughters, aged 16 and 13, for wearing casual clothing and looking sullen during the White House turkey pardon. 
 
 Today, after thousands of calls for the self-professed media expert to be sacked, Lauten has agreed to resign from her post as communications director for Rep Stephen Fincher of Tennessee. 
 
 Scroll down for video 
 
 Resigned: Elizabeth Lauten has stepped down as communications director for Rep Stephen Fincher after writing this (left) diatribe against Malia and Sasha Obama on Thanksgiving, slamming their attire and attitude 
 
 'Classless': Lauten told the girls to 'dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar' in her Facebook post 
 
 Lauten told NBC News by phone on Monday morning that her resignation is already 'in the works,' four days after her controversial post on Facebook went viral. 
 
 'Dear Sasha and Malia,' she wrote in the post, 'I get you're both in those awful teen years, but you're a part of the First Family, try showing a little class.' 
 
 Lauten added: 'Act like being in the White House matters to you. 
 
 'Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar. 
 
 'And certainly don't make faces during televised public events.' 
 
 Sasha, 13, was dressed in a short maroon dress with a long cream cardigan that matched her thick cream socks, worn over bare legs. Her sister Malia, 16, wore black tights under a mini kilt with a grey and cream jumper. 
 
 The Obama Administration responded to Lauten's comments on Monday, with White House spokesman Josh Earnest saying he was surprised a congressional staffer would use a Thanksgiving-themed event to criticize the first family. 
 
 He says individuals who frequently speak publicly tend to be mindful of how their words are perceived. Earnest added that it's common sense that first daughters should be off-limits to criticism. 
 
 Lauten apologized for her post hours later, writing that 'judgmental feelings truly have no place in my heart', saying that 'hours of prayer' had shown the error of her ways. 
 
 Apology: Hours later she removed the original outburst, issued an apology and set her page to private 
 
 The girls' expressions during their father's Thanksgiving address prompted playful comments on social media. 
 
 After the President had pardoned the designated bird, a four-month-old 49-pounder called Cheese, he asked Malia if she wanted to pet the turkey. 
 
 'Nah', she replied, in a rare departure from her usual, gracious disposition, which prompted a flurry of remarks from viewers. 
 
 But Lauten's reaction sparked outrage. 
 
 Dear Sasha and Malia... dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar Elizabeth Lauten's Facebook post 
 
 The incident was not Lauten's first social media slip-up. 
 
 In August, she posted a tweet from her boss's verified Twitter account about 'shagging'. 
 
 Stephen Fincher's followers were baffled when he tweeted: 'God I love this song. And beach music. AND shagging #pandora,' in reference to an Embers playlist on Pandora radio. 
 
 Lauten later deleted the post and apologized for the 'accident' - but insisted 'shagging' is a dance term rather than a sexual reference. 
 
 'It had nothing to do with Stephen Fincher. I don't think he knows what Pandora is; he certainly doesn't have it,' she said, according to Politico. 
 
 Following mass outrage to her post on Thursday, Lauten deleted it, set her profile to private, and issued an apology: 'I reacted to an article and quickly judged the two young ladies in a way that I would never have wanted to be judged myself as a teenager. 
 
 Reaction: The girls prompted soft criticism for sullenly scowling at their father, the President, on Thanksgiving 
 
 Twitter users rushed to defend the girls who Lauten said 'deserve a spot at a bar' rather than the White House 
 
 'After many hours of prayer, talking to my parents and re-reading my words online, I can see more clearly how hurtful my words were. 
 
 'Please know that these judgmental feelings truly have no pace in my heart. 
 
 'Furthermore, I'd like to apologize to all of those who I have hurt and offended with my words, and pledge to learn and grow (and I assure you I have) from this experience.' 
 
 Over the weekend, Lauten's critics defended Malia and Sasha by tweeting the renowned picture of George W Bush's daughter Jenna drunkenly tumbling over her friend on to the floor of a frat party, cigarette in hand, while her father was in office. 
 
 The 2001 photo, which earned the then 19-year-old the nickname Jenna And Tonic, went viral with the hash tag '#classy'. 
 
 Other responses included a picture of the moment Jenna, one of the former president's twin daughters, stuck out her tongue at White House photographers while riding in the presidential limousine. 
 
 Unimpressed: The First Daughters looked bored and unimpressed by their father's jokes about turkey 
 
 Clothing: Sasha wore a maroon dress and cardigan while Malia wore a mini kilt with black tights and boots 
 
 'Awful teenage years': The cyber-bullying post addressed to the young girls said they are at an 'awful' stage 
 
 'Did you forget that jenna bush got photographed at the age of 19 knocking someone over at a FRAT party? good lord,' one Twitter user wrote. 
 
 Another commented: 'The Bush twins used fake ID's to get into bars. & Jenna Bush stuck out tongue at press. Is that 'classy?' @DCGopGirl #tcot #UniteBlue.' 
 
 One wrote: 'Where were your ignorant comments on the Palin family brawl, the Bush girls (Jenna & Tonic).' 
 
 'So Sasha and Malia Obama have no class? Two words: Jenna Bush. #ElizabethLauten,' one tweet read.
– After her public comments on the Obama girls' lack of "class" went viral, a Republican congressional staffer is stepping down from her post. Elizabeth Lauten is resigning as communications director for Rep. Steven Fincher, she tells NBC News. Her comments—for which she apologized—helped her name to garner 22,000 mentions on Twitter in a 24-hour period, MSNBC reports. Lauten has run into social-media trouble in the past, adds the Daily Mail: A few months ago, she was behind a tweet on Fincher's feed reading, "God I love this song. And beach music. AND shagging #pandora." She called the post an accident.