KitchenAid Tweets Offensive Remark About Obama's Grandmother, Head of Brand Apologizes

The head of the appliance seller brand, KitchenAid, apologized for their "irresponsible tweet" about President Barack Obama's late grandmother.

The tweet in question -- "Obamas gma even knew it was going 2 b bad! 'She died 3 days b4 he became president' #nbcpolitics" -- was made after Obama referenced his grandmother during the Social Security and Medicare discussion of the Oct. 3 Presidential Debate.

During his speech, Obama said: "My grandmother, some of you know, helped to raise me -- my grandparents did. My grandfather died a while back. My grandmother died three days before I was elected president. And she was fiercely independent. She worked her way up -- only had a high school education, started as a secretary, ended up being the vice president of a local bank. And she ended up living alone by choice. And the reason she could be independent was because of Social Security and Medicare.

"She had worked all her life, put in this money, and understood that there was a basic guarantee, a floor under which she could not go. And that's the perspective I bring when I think about what's called entitlements. The name itself implies some sense of dependency on the part of these folks. These are folks who've worked hard, like my grandmother, and there are millions of people out there who are counting on this."

The controversial tweet was quickly deleted, but was still viewed by many. The KitchenAid Twitter account quickly sent out an apology.

"Deepest apologies for an irresponsible tweet that is in no way a representation of the brand's opinion. #nbcpolitics"

Cynthia Soledad, head of the KitchenAid brand, tweeted on the @KitchenAidUSA account: "Hello, everyone. My name is Cynthia Soledad, and I am the head of the KitchenAid brand. I would like to personally apologize to President @BarackObama, his family and everyone on Twitter for the offensive tweet sent earlier. It was carelessly sent in error by a member of our Twitter team who, needless to say, won't be tweeting for us anymore. That said, I take full responsibility for my team. Thank you for hearing me out."

So how did the insensitive comment ever get tweeted? Apparently, an employee mixed up his personal and professional Twitter accounts.

Soledad told Mashable.com in an email: "During the debate tonight, a member of our Twitter team mistakenly posted an offensive tweet from the KitchenAid handle instead of a personal handle. The tasteless joke in no way represents our values at KitchenAid, and that person won't be tweeting for us anymore. That said, I lead the KitchenAid brand, and I take responsibility for the whole team. I am deeply sorry to President Obama, his family, and the Twitter community for this careless error. Thanks for hearing me out."