House Speaker John Boehner has reportedly described Rush Limbaugh's sexist comments about Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke as “inappropriate.” The question now is: will Boehner backtrack?

There has been a consistent pattern of Republican officials regularly running away from their own criticisms of Limbaugh.

House Democrats had demanded Boehner to condemn Limbaugh after the radio host responded to Fluke's testimony before a Democratic hearing about the problems caused when women lack access to contraception by calling her a “slut” and a “prostitute.” At 10:59 a.m. ET today, CNN reported:

“The speaker obviously believes the use of those words was inappropriate, as is trying to raise money off the situation,” Michael Steel, Boehner's spokesman, told CNN.

While this statement is certainly appropriate, it's worth noting the long record of GOP officials running away from their own criticisms of Limbaugh. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), then-Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), then-South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, and Sarah Palin are among the notable Republicans who failed to stand by their complaints.

Maybe the Speaker will stick with his criticism of Limbaugh's misogynistic statements. But history says we should expect otherwise.