Virginia GOP treasurer sorry he called Republican woman lawmaker a 'sexist tw*t'

The treasurer of the Republican Party of Virginia, Bob FitzSimmonds, reportedly apologized on Tuesday after referring to a woman elected official in his party as a "sexist tw*t" on Facebook.

According to the right-leaning blog Mason Conservative, FitzSimmonds made the remarks after former Republican Party of Virginia communications director Shaun Kenney posted an article about how GOP candidate Howie Lind had angered donors by switching from the Senate race to the congressional race without offering refunds.

During a discussion in the comments section, screen shots show FitzSimmonds discussing Republican Virginia House of Delegates member Barbara Comstock with someone named Heather.

"I also think women are going to be very frustrated about about a man trying to usurp Barbara's position in this race," Heather explained. "If women come out in force for her, it will create a battle cry for Republican women so loud that Howie Lind won't have a prayer of competing with her. Republican women are a force to be reconed [sic] with and I for one want to see this power harnessed effectively in key political races."

"I have nothing against Barbara Comstock, but I hate sexist tw*t," FitzSimmonds allegedly wrote back. "I hope this is you Heather and not Barbara."

Shocked participants on the otherwise tame discussion thread immediately called on FitzSimmonds to apologize. And he eventually did.

"I posted something earlier and used an inappropriate word," FitzSimmonds said. "I would not have used such a word deliberately and I apologize for anyone who was offended. I was trying to say that I don't appreciate sexist stereotypes and apparently used one myself. I have removed the post."

A spokesperson for the Republican Party of Virginia told Raw Story that the party could not control what people did on Facebook, but it did not condone the use of any derogatory language. The spokesperson had not been made aware of FitzSimmonds' Facebook post at that time.

Update (11:30 a.m. ET): In an email, FitzSimmonds explained to Raw Story that he confused the word "tw*t" with the word "twaddle."

"I used the wrong word,"FitzSimmonds admitted. "I thought it meant the same as 'twaddle'. As soon as I realized the real definition of the word, I deleted the post and apologized."

(h/t: Blue Virginia)

[Photo credit: Bob FitzSimmonds/Facebook]