Irmo mayor Hardy King is apologizing to “anyone truly offended” by comments from others deriding Democrats and those receiving public aid that appeared briefly on his Internet site.

The remarks don’t reflect his personal beliefs, he said Wednesday.

King is under fire from some residents and Town Council members.

The remarks came in a commentary sent him and inadvertently went to others connected to his site when King passed it along to an “anti-conservative” friend who regularly sends unwanted political diatribes, he said.

“Give a man a fish and he eats for a day,” the message with grammatical mistakes says. “Give a man a welfare check, a free cellphone, food stamps, section 8 housing, a six-pack of beer, a crack pipe and some Air Jordon’s (sic) and he’ll vote Democrat the rest of his life.”

Some residents and town leaders call the remarks a putdown of African-Americans.

The apology is unsatisfactory to Councilman Barry A. Walker Sr., who lost the mayoral contest last year to King.

“He apologized for being caught posting racist stuff,” Walker said.

King said he’s “ready to move on” from the brouhaha.

“Lay down your swords, pick up a shovel and let’s work and build together,” he said in a statement to residents.

Reach Flach at (803) 771-8483.