Theresa May has responded to a report that suggested her Tory leadership rival Andrea Leadsom was using her status as a mother to give her an advantage.
The Home Secretary has urged Mrs Leadsom to back her "clean campaign pledge" in a tweet, after the energy minister said being a mother makes her a better choice for Prime Minister than Mrs May because it gives her a "very real stake" in Britain's future prosperity.
The Times has now provided a transcript and audio of the interview and defended its report.
In highly personal remarks, Mrs Leadsom told the newspaper she was sure Mrs May must be "really sad" not to have children as she suggested that her motherhood status meant she had more invested in the future than her leadership rival.
"Genuinely I feel that being a mum means you have a very real stake in the future of our country," Mrs Leadsom said.
Responding to the publication of the interview, which is on the front page of the newspaper's Saturday's edition, Mrs Leadsom said the way her words had been construed was "beyond disgusting".
"Truly appalling and the exact opposition of what I said. I am disgusted," tweeted the mother-of-three.
In tweets to The Times, she added: "This is despicable and hateful reporting. You must now provide the transcript - this is beyond disgusting.
"This is the worst gutter journalism I've ever seen. I am so angry - I can't believe this. How could you?"
In response, Emma Tucker, deputy editor at The Times, tweeted a copy of the interview transcript, in which the journalist asks Mrs Leadsom: "During the debates, you repeatedly said: 'as a mum'. Do you feel like a mum in politics?"
Mrs Leadsom's reply was: "Yes. I am sure Theresa will be really sad she doesn't have children so I don't want this to be 'Andrea has children, Theresa hasn't' because I think that would be really horrible.
"But genuinely I feel that being a mum means you have a very real stake in the future of our country - a tangible stake.
"She possibly has nieces, nephews, lots of people but I have children who are going to have children who will directly be a part of what happens next."
The interview comes just days after Mrs May spoke for the first time about the sadness she and her husband Phillip felt when they discovered they couldn't have children.
"Of course, we were both affected by it," she told the Mail on Sunday.
"You see friends who now have grown-up children, but you accept the hand that life deals you. Sometimes things you wish had happened don't or there are things you wish you'd been able to do, but can't. There are couples in a similar position."
Mrs May revealed in the interview she and her husband of 35 years did seek expert advice in a bid to become parents - but it never happened.
Asked whether she felt it had affected her outlook as a politician, she said: "I don't think so, it's an impossible question because you can't tell what you'd have been like if you'd been in a different position."
The two women are going head-to-head to win the Conservative leadership race and become the next Prime Minister after Michael Gove, the Justice Secretary, was knocked out of the ballot of MPs on Thursday, picking up just 46 votes, against 84 for Mrs Leadsom and 199 for Mrs May.
Before the interview was released, Mrs May had issued a statement imploring her opponent to a fight a clean campaign and stay within the "acceptable limits" of political debate, in an acknowledgement of rancour shown on both sides during the EU referendum campaign.
Business Secretary Ann Soubry said Mrs Leadsom's comments meant she was "not PM material".
Tory MP Sarah Wollaston called for Mrs Leadsom to withdraw from the race.
She wrote on Twitter that Mrs Leadsom "has repeatedly shown that she lacks judgement & is not the right person to lead the nation. She should now withdraw."
One MP backing Mrs May told The Times the comments were "disgusting" and added: "I think it is going to insult a lot of Conservative activists as well as a lot of nice, decent people."
Tory MP Nadine Dorries, who is backing Mrs Leadsom, said on Twitter that every female politician who is a mum should draw on their motherhood. "She should do it more often," she added.
Armed forces minister Penny Mordaunt said the report was an attempt to "smear" Mrs Leadsom.
The Leadsom supporter told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Andrea's first thoughts will be with Theresa in this matter, it's a horrible thing to have happened to both candidates. But we have now got to raise our game and give a proper contest to the country."
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