South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) said during a press conference on Wednesday her Democratic challenger’s laughter after he accidentally called her a “whore” last week felt like “a kick in the gut.”
Television station WIS posted video of the governor’s response, and she could be seen sighing before she answered a question about state Sen. Vincent Sheheen’s gaffe.
“So I haven’t spent a lot of time on this and you have not heard me talk about it and it’s because whether it was a gaffe or not, I really don’t care,” Haley said. “I’m a tough girl, I can handle that. The laughing afterwards, was a kick in the gut. You know the comment that sometimes you gotta tell the truth, that was tough. But, having said that, you know, I’m not going to waste my time on that,” Haley said.
Haley also responded to Ann Romney’s reaction that Sheheen’s gaffe was representative of a war on women.
“I thought that Ann Romney’s comments were appropriate,” Haley said. “There’s no place in South Carolina for comments or laughter – when it comes to things like that.”
Sheheen committed the verbal flub when speaking about Haley on Thursday night during a campaign rally.
“And we are going to escort whore out the door,” Sheheen said, before quickly correcting his statement. “We’re gonna escort her out the door.”
Sheheen later apologized for the gaffe.
“If anybody heard wrong, and certainly my words were garbled, then, you know, I apologize because I don’t want to send that message to anybody,” he said.
Watch video of Haley’s press conference below, courtesy of WIS:
