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"It's just ugly, in any setting, and totally unacceptable. I doubt that he would talk to his wife that way. I don't guess that he does, or any other woman that he cares about, or any other people that he cares about," she said, adding that Artiles' explanation for his use of a word that is so heavily charged for African Americans put a "little ding" in his show of remorse.

Artiles, a tough-talking U.S. Marine veteran, insisted that he did not direct the word at anyone in particular.

"The most important thing is very simple. I was not targeting anybody with the word. It was a generality," he told reporters Wednesday.

"I don't even know how to respond to that. Maybe he's well-insulated. I don't know," Gibson said when told of Artiles' comments.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Thurston said Artiles' "racist rant" was "deeply offensive to people of color" and that his actions "demand no less than removal" from the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Oscar Braynon, who is black, ridiculed Artiles' implication that a variation of the "n-word" is less offensive.

"To say that the ending of the word changes the connotation of it … may be asinine," Braynon said. "There's been a history of that word, whether it be `er,' `a,' `z.' Whatever it is, it's offensive. It's not something that anyone should be saying. … No one should be called that word."

While Artiles appeared remorseful while asking Gibson, Thurston, Negron and the entire Senate for forgiveness, he was defiant when asked by reporters if he intends to step down.

"If every time a senator made a mistake, or someone made a mistake, that they had to resign … we'd have half the Senate gone for whatever reason. I did not insult anybody directly. What I did was have a heated debate with a colleague, and I basically apologized for that," he said. "As a matter of fact, I'm not only not going to resign, I'm going to file for 2018, and I'm going to win my election."

Negron, R-Stuart, told reporters Wednesday "there's never any excuse" for the "gender-specific insults" Artiles directed toward Gibson, but would not say whether he should resign.

"Any further action … that may or may not occur would be between him and his constituents. Every senator is judged by his or her conduct," Negron said, before appointing the special master.

Artiles, elected in November after a bitter general election battle against former Democratic Sen. Dwight Bullard, is no stranger to controversy.

For example, the conservative Republican garnered national news coverage for sponsoring a measure in 2015 that would have banned transgender people from using bathrooms that don't match the gender on their birth certificates.