The Republican Senate nominee in Missouri, Todd Akin, said something very stupid.
[L]iberal blog Talking Points Memo posted a video of Rep. Todd Akin claiming that victims of “legitimate rape” are unlikely to become pregnant.
Rep. Akin is the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Missouri. A recent poll by SurveyUSA showed Akin 11 points ahead of his opponent, incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill.
“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” Akin said to KTVI-TV in an interview posted this morning.
Expectedly, people started overreacting to that statement, on both sides. Someone on Twitter called him “the worst person in the world,” and Republicans and conservatives are essentially saying that he just handed victory to McCaskill.
To me, this whole thing is completely ridiculous, both what Akin said, and people’s reactions to it. He made a gaffe on something that isn’t even an issue most people are concerned with right now; I don’t see why that should eliminate his chances of being elected. Of course, he should promptly apologize, and shift the focus back to the economy and McCaskill’s record.
At least one prominent conservative, Dana Loesch, gets it.
UPDATE: Akin has released a statement.
