“Calling her a ‘stupid little bigot’” implies to me that the statement was made directly to her face.
YMMV.
Not to be a jerk but for demonstration purposes:
If I told Gonzo that “you are a dumbass” then I have called you a dumbass. Doesn’t matter whether I said it to you or not. The way the sentence was written in the article makes it ambiguous as to whether the comment was made directly to the girl or not, but is later clarified.