Former Rep. Todd Akin said he regrets the comments he made about “legitimate rape” which derailed his Missouri bid for U.S. Senate last year.
In an interview with
KDSK-TV on Thursday, the 65-year-old was asked whether he would take back the controversial comments. “Of course I would,” the former congressman replied.
“I’ve relived them too many times. But that is not reality.”
The Republican who represented Missouri’s second congressional district for twelve years saw his otherwise winnable campaign come to a standstill after he said in a television interview last summer that he believes pregnancy can be prevented by a woman involved in a “legitimate rape” because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
Incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, capitalized on the comments, while major players in the GOP called for Akin to drop out of the race.
Akin decided to fight on, but McCaskill went on to defeat him by more than 15 percentage points.
“There was a very, very strong grassroots element saying don’t you give in to those party bosses,” Akin told KSDK.
Still Akin hinted that he might consider a repeat run. “Oh no, I don’t rule anything out,” he said in the interview. “I consider it a bright new future and I’m interested to see what the possibilities are.”
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