Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

Fox News commentator Tomi Lahren apologized on Thursday for her sexist tweet about Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) the previous night, arguing that it was “the wrong choice of words.” But she previously pushed the same repugnant smear on her Fox Nation show, and several other Fox commentators have also promoted the narrative.

During the July 31 Democratic presidential debate, Lahren attacked Harris for her relationship with former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown in the mid-1990s, tweeting, “Kamala did you fight for ideals or did you sleep your way to the top with Willie Brown?”

The sexist narrative has gained traction on anonymous message board fever swamps and among right-wing influencers like Gateway Pundit’s Jim Hoft, talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, and the actor James Woods. In a February article on the unique challenges women face on the presidential campaign trail, The New York Times’ Maggie Astor cited critics’ references to Harris’ past relationship with Brown, calling them “a common tactic faced by women that sexualizes them and reduces their successes to a relationship with a man.”

Lahren’s vile Tweet was widely condemned, including by some of her Fox colleagues. Network commentators Britt McHenry and Kat Timpf both chastised the Fox Nation host on Twitter, and several Fox employees admonished her in comments to CNN’s Oliver Darcy. “It makes me sick that I work for the same company as Tomi Lahren,” one told him.

On Thursday morning, Lahren tweeted, “I apologize for my comment on Kamala’s personal relationship. It was the wrong choice of words. There are many other things to take her to task for and I will stick to those.”

But Lahren hasn’t limited her use of this misogynistic smear to her personal Twitter feed -- she previously devoted an entire episode of her Fox Nation show to the claim.

Lahren accused Harris of “using an extramarital affair to boost her political career” and “dating [her] way to the top” during the January 29 edition of Final Thoughts, her weekday afternoon program on Fox’s streaming service. The episode featured the chyron “Kamala’s Affair Boost.”