Virginia professor steps down after anti-Biden post

A Virginia college professor resigned, officials said Monday, after he wrote on social media that supporters of President-elect Joe Biden are "ignorant, anti-American and anti-Christian."

Virginia Wesleyan University, a private liberal arts school in Virginia Beach, announced that Paul Ewell, a professor of management, business and economics, had stepped down. He had earlier resigned as dean of Virginia Wesleyan's Global Campus.

"Last week, Dr. Paul Ewell resigned as Dean of Virginia Wesleyan University Global Campus," the school said in a statement Monday. "Today, the University accepted his resignation as Professor of Management, Business and Economics."

Ewell wrote on Facebook that all Biden supporters or Democrats should unfriend him, NBC affiliate WAVY of Norfolk reported.

"If you were ignorant anti-American, and anti-Christian enough to vote for Biden, I really don't want to be your social friend on social media," he wrote just after the election in a posting that has been deleted. NBC News has not viewed the original post.

A man who answered Ewell's cellphone hung up immediately Monday afternoon. Ewell did not immediately return voicemail or text messages to that line.

Ewell had earlier told WAVY that he wrote the post in anger and that he regrets that he "set a poor example in that post of what a Christian should be."

"I have many Democrat friends, and I want to apologize for saying that I didn't want to be friends with them and for calling them names," he told the station. "I am genuinely sorry for letting my anger get the best of me."

Ewell appears to have the backing of President Donald Trump, who tweeted a news story Sunday about him with a one-word response, "Progress!"

Not long after Ewell wrote the abrasive Facebook post, the school sought to distance itself from him.

"The University is aware of a recent comment made on social media by a member of the campus community," the school said in a statement Nov. 6.

"These views and opinions are expressly the individual's own. Civic engagement and religious freedom are at the core of the University's values, and we remain an inclusive and caring community that empowers meaningful relationships through listening, understanding, and communication."