Fox Nation host and conservative commentator Tomi Lahren on Thursday apologized for a derogatory tweet at Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) amid a 2020 Democratic presidential debate.
In the opening stages of the debate, Lahren took aim at the California senator for her past relationship with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown (D) in the mid-1990s.
“Kamala did you fight for ideals or did you sleep your way to the top with Willie Brown?” Lahren, who hosts a program on Fox News’ streaming service, tweeted.
She later doubled down on the remark, tweeting, “I didn’t make this up,” while linking to a USA Today article about Brown’s comments about their past relationship.
Brown said in a letter that he may have “influenced” Harris’s career. But he added that he had influenced the careers of many other politicians.{mosads}
Following a wave of backlash, including from colleagues at Fox News, Lahren expressed regret for her choice of words.
“I apologize for my comment on Kamala’s personal relationship,” she said on Twitter on Thursday morning. “It was the wrong choice of words. There are many other things to take her to task for and I will stick to those.”
Some of Lahren’s colleagues at Fox News denounced Lahren for sexism in her remarks about Harris.
“Do you have any idea how damaging this is to women who’ve actually been sexually harassed, assaulted or demeaned in the workplace?” Britt McHenry, a Fox News contributor and Fox Nation host, said on Twitter.
Fox News libertarian commentator Katherine Timpf called out Lahren for bringing up a woman’s personal and sexual life amid a presidential debate.
“I am curious to know what you think bringing a woman’s personal/sexual life into this accomplishes,” she said. “Men do that to us enough as it is. I’m honestly asking.”
Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean called Lahren’s tweet “pretty disgusting,” adding that “if a male contributor had tweeted this they would probably be suspended with a trip to HR.”
“Are clicks and retweets worth demeaning women?” she asked. “Would you do the same to a ‘conservative’ female candidate?”
Updated 3:30 p.m.