Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) has walked back recent controversial remarks regarding Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R). Her original comments had used a domestic violence metaphor to describe Gov. Walker’s record.

“I shouldn’t have used the words I used,” Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. “But that shouldn’t detract from the broader point that I was making that Scott Walker’s policies have been bad for Wisconsin women.”

Wasserman Schultz’s inflammatory remarks came at a Milwaukee roundtable event on women’s issues Wednesday.

“Scott Walker has given women the back of his hand,” Wasserman Schultz said at the roundtable. “I know that is stark. I know that is direct. I know that is reality.”

Republicans officials were quick to express shock and outrage.

“I think the remarks were absolutely hideous and the motive behind them was despicable,” Republican Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She called on Democrats to “denounce these outrageous statements.”

After Wasserman Schultz’s comment,s the DNC quickly emphasized that she did not mean to demean the real pain felt by survivors of domestic violence, and that voters’ focus should remain on Gov. Walker’s record.

“Whether it’s mandating ultrasounds, repealing an equal pay law, or rejecting federal funding for preventative health care, Walker’s record speaks for itself,” said Wasserman Schultz. “As for the issue of domestic violence, it’s unacceptable that a majority of Congressional Republicans opposed this critical legislation, of which I was a proud cosponsor, after blocking its reauthorization for more than a year.”