Republican who advocated acid attacks on female Democrats quits job

A top campaign aide to Rep. Nan Hayworth (R-NY) has resigned his post after writing on Facebook that supporters should "hurl some acid" at female Democratic officials.

"Jay Townsend has offered, and I have accepted, his resignation from his position with my campaign," Rep. Hayworth said Monday in prepared text. "Now let's return to talking about issues that really matter to families: job creation, spending restraint and economic development."

On a Facebook discussion board maintained by local Democratic activists, Townsend mockingly suggested throwing acid on female Senators who supported the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act but paid their male staffers more than their female staffers.

“Listen to Tom,” he wrote in response to a Facebook user who criticized Republicans. “What a little bee he has in his bonnet. Buzz Buzz. My question today…when is Tommy boy going to weigh in on all the Lilly Ledbetter hypocrites who claim to be fighting the War on Women? Let’s hurl some acid at those female democratic Senators who won’t abide the mandates they want to impose on the private sector."

Acid attacks have notoriously been used against women who violate social traditions in Syria, Afghanistan and other countries.

"I posted a stupid, thoughtless and insensitive comment on a Facebook page," Townsend later wrote on his Facebook page. "It was stupid because my words were easily misconstrued; thoughtless because my choice of words obscured a point I was trying to make, and insensitive because some have interpreted the comment as advocating a violent act."

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Photo: Shutterstock.com, all rights reserved.

(H/T: The Hill)