Betty Olson[3] (born April 19, 1946) is a rancher, EMT, and substitute schoolteacher.
[4] She is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the South Dakota Senate in District 28 from 2015 to 2017.
In 2014, Olson wrote a column for the Butte County Post (a South Dakota local weekly newspaper) that contained a joke widely criticized as a bigoted slur.
The "joke" alleged that President Barack Obama was a Muslim terrorist, and cast 7-11 managers, Motel 6 managers, cab drivers, and customer service representatives as Muslim terrorists.
[13] As the controversy stirred and outrage grew, Olson refused to express regret for her words, saying the problem was that "people don't have a sense of humor."