Trump ally says he hopes Barack Obama will die from mad cow disease, racially abuses Michelle Obama

The man who served as Donald Trump's New York campaign co-chairman has made racist remarks about Michelle Obama and said his wish for 2017 is that Barack Obama dies.

Carl Paladino made the comments while speaking to Buffalo paper Artvoice, and was immediately criticised on social media and by state officials – with calls for him to resign from a Buffalo school board, The New York Times reported.

When asked what he wanted to see happen in 2017, Paladino told Artvoice: "Obama catches mad cow disease after being caught having relations with a Herford.

"He dies before trial and is buried in a cow pasture next to Valerie Jarrett (a senior White House adviser), who died weeks prior, after being convicted of sedition and treason, when a Jihadi cell mate mistook her being a nice person and decapitated her."

But the Trump ally did not stop with comments about Barack Obama, also laying into his wife, popular first lady Michelle Obama, citing her as one of the things he would like to see "go" in 2017.

"Michelle Obama. I'd like her to return to being a male and let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortable in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla," Paladino said.

The president-elect's transition team immediately disavowed the comments, with a spokesperson telling Huffington Post the statements were "absolutely reprehensible", adding: "they serve no place in our public discourse".

However, Paladino showed no signs of relenting or retracting his comments, telling The Buffalo News when they queried whether he had made the statement: "Yeah, I'm not politically correct. They asked what I want and I told them."