Story highlights Ann Romney is slamming a slur uttered by a Democratic candidate for South Carolina governor

Romney to CNN: "It hit me right in my gut:

Romney didn't say whether her husband would run for president again

Washington (CNN) Ann Romney, the wife of former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, condemned South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's Democratic challenger after he mistakenly called her a "whore" — and then chuckled.

"When I first heard about it, it hit me right in my gut," Romney said in a Monday phone interview with CNN. "My nerve endings went haywire. It's so upsetting when you know someone can say something like that about a woman, and not have any kind of reaction. It's so unacceptable. Nikki is a great girl and has been a great governor."

The Democrat, Vincent Sheheen, made the comment at a campaign event late last week in Florence. In the midst of attacking Haley's education record, Sheheen stumbled over his words and told the crowd, "We are going to escort whore out the door."

The slip-of-the-tongue was clearly accidental, and Sheheen immediately corrected himself, saying, "We're going to escort her out the door." But when some in the audience picked up on the verbal faux pas and started applauding, Sheheen grinned and laughed along with people in the crowd. Video of the event went viral.

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