First MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews suggested Sen. Hillary Clinton only won her Senate seat because people felt sorry for her after Bill’s Clinton’s affair, and now MSNBC political reporter David Shuster has tastelessly compared Chelsea Clinton to a lady of the night.

Filling in for Tucker Carlson yesterday, Shuster gave his opinion on Chelsea’s role in the presidential campaign, asking a guest, “Doesn’t it seem as if Chelsea is sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?”

Immediately after the comment, Big Head DC has learned, people in the Clinton camp were angered — and the network began receiving angry e-mails and calls from viewers suggesting it was an inappropriate way for a reporter to refer to a former First Daughter.

Amazingly, Shuster chose not to apologize, even when the Clinton camp expressed their outrage directly to him — until MSNBC bigwigs forced him to do so, in a segment planned to air tonight at 6 p.m. ET. 

“The comment was completely inappropriate, and we have called the Clinton campaign to apologize,” a network spokesperson told Howie Kurtz today. Meanwhile, Phil Griffin, the executive in charge of MSNBC, phoned the Clinton camp to say the comment was “clearly wrong.” 

“At some point you have to question whether there is a pattern at this particular network,” a top Clinton staffer is quoted on a Post blog as saying. Murmurs are reaching Big Head DC that future MSNBC appearances by Hillary Clinton and her husband will likely be few and far between. 

Earlier: Advice for Removing David Shuster’s Alleged Back Hair