CNN pundit and “journalist” Sophia Nelson used the r-word when referring to President Donald Trump in a now-deleted tweet. Nelson was reacting to a tweet from another anti-Trumper when she tweeted, “They just always got an excuse to cover for his r@#$%^&d ass!” She deleted her tweet after she faced an intense online backlash, with parents of special needs children calling her out. Although she deleted the offensive post, she refused to apologize for what she did.

Later on, she noted that people still came after her even if she had deleted the tweet. She said that she understood why people were upset regarding her use of the word, but instead of apologizing, she defended her language and doubled down. Her argument is that the word was used in her generation and so it should be okay. She added that using “retarded” to describe the president was actually her being kind.

Nelson is the former GOP counsel for the House Oversight Committee and is also a senior adviser to the Lincoln Project, which was founded to “defeat President Trump and Trumpism at the ballot box.”

She still refused to apologize even when a real journalist called her out for her stance and use of the word. Nelson claimed that the reporter was doing a hit piece on her and then used the r-word yet again. In a stunning display of lack of self-awareness, Nelson insisted that her using the offensive word had nothing to do with special needs persons or persons with disabilities.

Nelson is one of the Republicans who have been highly critical of President Trump. Back in 2017, she wrote an opinion piece for the New York Daily News in which she claimed that women who supported the president ought to be ashamed of themselves. A few years later, she is still at it, and she is ramping up her attacks on the president, even using a highly offensive word.