A senior editor at National Review Online has responded dismissively to criticism regarding his use of the term “wetback.”

In a column published Monday, Jay Nordlinger wrote that conservatives were disgusted by then-President Ronald Reagan because he “was raising taxes, spending like crazy, welcoming wetbacks, [and] pursuing arms control.”

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After several news sites and blogs reported on his use of the racial slur, Nordlinger responded in a new column on the National Review Online. He “clarified” for some of his “dim” readers that the racial slur reflected “the mentality of Reagan’s critics” and was not meant to be offensive.

“I would further say to the complainers, using a phrase I’ve never liked, frankly: Get a life. Get a frickin’ life,” Nordlinger added.

The National Review, which was founded in 1955 by conservative William F. Buckley, has been plagued by accusations of racism this year.

The magazine fired columnist John Derbyshire in April for a controversial column in another publication urging white and Asian parents to tell their children to avoid contact with African-Americans they don’t know. Shortly afterward, the National Review also let go of a contributor who “delivered a noxious talk about the future of white nationalism. ”