The chair of the Democratic National Committee has called out GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney for not condemning comments by radio personality Rush Limbaugh about a law student who testified on Capitol Hill in support of the administration’s health care law.
“The bottom line is, the leading candidate on the Republican side for president couldn’t even bring himself to call Rush Limbaugh’s comments outrageous and call him out and ask him to apologize,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, the DNC leader, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
The Democratic Party, which has accused Republicans of waging a “war on women,” will continue to press the issue of women’s access to contraception during the presidential campaign, she said.
“There is a dramatic contrast between President Obama and his view that women who have access to affordable health care, including contraception, and Mitt Romney and the Republicans, who believe that women should not,” she said.
Mr. Limbaugh last week called Georgetown University laws student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” for testifying before Congress that employers should cover contraception, and he accused her of wanting to “be paid to have sex” and even suggested she should post sex videos online in return.
Mr. Limbaugh apologized Saturday, saying his comments were “an attempt to be humorous.”
Mrs. Wasserman Schultz questioned Mr. Limbaugh’s sincerity.
“I don’t know any woman in America who thinks that being called a slut is funny,” she said.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Virginia Republican who on Sunday endorsed Mr. Romney for president, downplayed Mr. Romney’s failure to repudiate Mr. Limbaugh.
“I’m sure if you ask Mitt Romney, David, I’m sure he would also agree those were insulting words,” Mr. Cantor told “Meet the Press” host David Gregory.
Mr. Cantor said Mr. Limbaugh’s comments were wrong.
• Sean Lengell can be reached at slengell@washingtontimes.com.
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