Top GOP leaders close ranks with South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley after she’s called a ‘whore’ by opponent Vincent Sheheen

Gov. Chris Christie campaigns for her.

By The American Bazaar Staff

WASHINGTON, DC: Republican South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has faced racist and sexist remarks before in her political career, and come up trumps, but it was a humbling moment for politics itself, when she was termed a ‘whore’ by her Democrat opponent Vincent Sheheen during a public campaign.

The disgusting remark, for which the Sheheen is anyway bound to be punished by voters tomorrow, just like he was the first time around when he challenged Haley, was captured by on video last week by the Morning News in Florence, South Carolina.

Sheheen can be heard saying, “we are going to escort whore out the door,” about a minute into his remarks and then corrected himself by adding, “we’re going to escort her out the door.”  The chuckling came when the crowd responded to his remarks with applause, reported USA Today.

Sheheen, who is in a rematch with Haley, apologized during a radio appearance Monday, saying his words were “garbled” but the damage was done.

In her first comments, Haley said her Democratic opponent’s laughter after accidentally calling her a “whore” was like “a kick in the gut.”

“You have not heard me talk about it and it’s because whether it was a gaffe or not, I really don’t care,” she said, according to WIS-TV, the NBC affiliate in Columbia, S.C. “I’m a tough girl, I can handle that. The laughing afterwards was a kick in the gut. … But, having said that, I’m not going to waste my time on that.”

While Sheheen may have dug his political grave with that remark – apart from the fact that he was anyway behind by more than 15 points going into tomorrow’s race as predicted by Real Clear Politics, Haley has been getting tremendous support from top leaders in the GOP ranks, and some of the support suggest that she is likely going to be a top contender for the Vice Presidential ticket in 2016.

The former Massachusetts governor and likely top GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney’s wife Ann Romney blasted Sheheen’s original comment and called it “unacceptable” in an interview with CNN.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, denounced what he called a “personal attack” on Haley, his friend, in a Facebook post.

The local affiliate of Fox News reported that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie joined Haley for two campaign stops in Spartanburg on Sunday.

Christie is chairman of the Republican Governors Association. He also campaigned for Haley in Charleston in September. He is among two potential 2016 GOP presidential contenders to join Haley on her get-out-the-vote bus tour that started Wednesday.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal campaigned with Haley on Thursday for stops along the coast.