[WS:] This is a rather unimportant aspect of the story. Slur or not, it is just speech. We are all for freedom of speech, no? Whether it is offensive or not is matter of opinion. I bet that many if not most US citizens find what we say on this list offensive.
What IS important in this story is that nativism is a very widely spread sentiment in the US and politicians go on a limb to appease it in order to gain voter support. This is quite scary.
Wojtek