California NOW President Calls Whitman 'Political Whore'

The National Organization for Women seems to have changed their tack on hate speech against women Thursday, as the president of the California chapter called California GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman a "political whore" after having earlier called for Jerry Brown, her Democratic opponent, to fire any staffer who used the word.

California NOW President Patty Bellasalma told Talking Points Memo in an interview Thursday that "Meg Whitman could be described as 'a political whore.' Yes, that's an accurate statement."

TPM had called Bellasalma to follow up on a recent Daily Caller story that quoted her as seemingly justifying the incident last week in which a tape was released revealing a Brown staffer being unknowingly recorded referring to Whitman as a "whore" while discussing political strategy.

NOW took heat last week for choosing to endorse Jerry Brown over Meg Whitman even in the face of evidence that someone in his campaign had used the slur without any audible condemnation from Brown.

The women's group followed up Wednesday with a statement denouncing the Brown campaign's use of the word and calling on him to fire any future staffer who was heard using such language, but commending his subsequent apology and reaffirming their support for his candidacy.