A Maryland councilwoman gave a sobbing apology at a meeting Monday after she disparaged residents of a local mental health facility in a Facebook post aimed at President Trump — but that was only after she originally defended it.

Grammatically challenged Salisbury City Councilwoman April Jackson ignited a public backlash last Thursday when took to Facebook to malign the 45^th President of the United States.

“Ya’alls President is RETARDED … He’s far pass the Holly Center,” Jackson wrote, referring to the local mental health facility where she once worked, The Salisbury Independent reports.

Jackson, elected in 2015, deleted the Facebook post last week and eventually replaced it with an apology, but the damage was done and more than 200 people signed on to a petition on Change.org calling for her resignation.

Local leaders also took to Facebook to condemn her comments.

“When I read the comment I was both angry and disgusted,” Salisbury City Council President Jack Heath wrote, according to WBOC. “I firmly believe that Councilwoman Jackson owes an apology to these individuals and their families.”

Heath wrote that it was Jackson’s use of the word “retarded” that was the most offensive.

“I wasn’t angered by topic but by the insensitive use of a term which is both insulting and degrading to the thousands of individuals with developmental disabilities, their families and an organization that has faithfully served this group for many years,” he said, according to Delmarva Now.

At Monday’s city council meeting, Jackson was sobbing when she approached the podium to apologize for her boneheaded post, which she said prompted a weekend of accusations and insults. She alleged her comments were taken out of context, and begged the audience to look past her ugly words.

“I am standing here this evening to publicly apologize for offending the intellectually disabled. I never meant to hurt anyone,” Jackson alleged. “As a woman of God and as a leader I have to set an example. I promise I won’t do it again. I ask that we can leave here in perfect peace.”

She also blamed her bad words on “emotions” and Trump’s decision to authorize air strikes against Syria for the government’s alleged use of Sarin gas on the country’s citizens, WBOC reports.

“I pray that you accept my apologies and allow ourselves to get back to our daily walk in life,” she said. “I deeply apologize from my heart. I regret ever making that comment. … My emotions were running high as a result of the air strikes on Syria taking place. (Being) frustrated and concerned about all the deaths being caused, I lashed out on my personal Facebook page.”

She told the Independent she regrets making the comment because of how it impacted the disabled and those who work with them in the community, but stood firm in her hatred for the president.

“I just used the Holly Center as a place I know where people have mental illness. I stand by what I said about (President Trump),” she told WBOC, originally defending her slam.

“Maybe I was wrong for using the Holly Center to say something about (President Trump), but I stand by what I said about him,” Jackson said.

She said she removed her post amid the backlash, and apologized to folks on Facebook, as well.

“I took it down, then I posted, ‘If anything I said offended the Holly Center or their clients or any other persons, I apologize,’” Jackson said.

“I am not a mean person. It was a bad choice of words, which I really regret. I meant it for Trump. I didn’t mean it for the Holly Center. … I will apologize for the Holly Center, not about Trump.”

Jackson did not address a post she made before the apology that read, “Well I’ve been told I can’t say what I want on Facebook … Are you kidding me? But Trump can insult people all day everyday … Wow!”

During the council meeting’s public comment portion, a steady stream of residents spoke about the episode, many of them defending the councilwoman. Kim Spotts, who has a child with Down syndrome, called on the community to end the petition to remove Jackson because “everybody misspeaks,” the Independent reports.

“For some of these people who want to vilify April, I tell you to stop,” she said.