Shaheen ‘Apologizes’ for Calling Nikki Haley a ‘Whore’; S.C. Reporter Calls It ‘Slip of the Tongue’

Earlier today, South Carolina Democratic gubernatorial candidate Vincent Sheheen “apologized” for telling supporters last Thursday that if he defeats incumbent Republican Nikki Haley, “we’re gonna escort whore out the door.”

Sheheen’s “apology” is far from satisfactory, especially given the point NewsBusters commenter “Rio5″ made at last night’s post, namely that “As my father always said, ‘If it isn’t in your head it won’t come out of your mouth.’” As will be seen after the jump, Vincent Sheheen wants us to believe that he is a miraculously rare exception to that wise saying. Readers will also see that State.com reporter Cassie Cope is being incredibly indulgent in covering the “apology”:

Sheheen apologizes for campaign gaffe

State Sen. Vincent Sheheen, the Democratic candidate for governor, apologized Monday for his slip-of-the tongue last week when he called Gov. Nikki Haley an offensive name.

“My mom’s around and I can promise you I don’t use that word, the word that … people are claiming that I’ve used. I don’t use it in private, I don’t use it in public,” Sheheen told Charleston radio host Bryan Crabtree … “But if anybody heard, and certainly my words were garbled … I apologize because I don’t want to send that message to anybody.”

During a campaign stop in Florence last week, Sheheen was caught on video saying: “We are going to escort whore out the door.”

Sheheen immediately corrects himself: “We’re going to escort her out the door.”

The crowd laughs and Sheheen grins.

… “Sometimes when you’re speaking five or 10 times a day, your words get a little bit garbled,” Sheheen said. “When they get garbled, and it does happen to me, I go back and say exactly what I meant, and you heard in that clip that I meant her, h-e-r.”

“Correction” notwithstanding, as seen in the video which follows, readers will hear nothing that’s even remotely “garbled,” and will see that Sheheen expressed no visible regret over his ugly remark, while the crowd clearly relished the moment:

A friend also told me yesterday without prompting that in his view, a close look at Sheheen’s delivery at the “whore” moment shows no evidence of a misformed or “garbled” word. I would agree with that.

I’ll let another commenter at last night’s NewsBusters post have a say here. This one, from “Mary,” went up this afternoon:

A gentleman who made that slip would have immediately apologized, regardless of his audience’s enjoyment of the slip. He is NOT a gentleman. Nor is he smart enough to pretend to be one.

Bingo.

The Associated Press’s national site still doesn’t have a story on Sheheen’s ugly remark and the ugly crowd which cheered it. The Google News story count is still only two dozen, with almost all results originating from center-right media outlets and blogs.

The chances that a story like this would be so bottled up if a Republican or conservative candidate said something similar are slim and none. Two years ago, the press couldn’t resist obsessing over abortion-related remarks by two Republicans which, unlike Sheheen’s remark, had no hateful component whatsoever.

Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org.