Obama: Akin ‘Somehow Missed Science Class’
President Barack Obama gave his opinion on Senate candidate Todd Akin’s controversial “legitimate rape” remarks Wednesday night.
“The interesting thing here is that this is an individual who sits on the House Committee on Science and Technology but somehow missed science class,” Obama told donors at a New York fundraiser.
The president said Akin’s comments are representative of “the desire to go backwards instead of forwards and fight fights that we thought were settled 20 or 30 years ago.”
Akin has been receiving a lot of backlash for his remarks, not only from opponents, but from his own party as well. The GOP has called for Akin to quit the Senate race, but the Missouri representative has said that he will continue his bid. He missed the August 21 deadline to drop out of the race but could still get his name removed from the Missouri ballot with a court order if he changes his mind by September 25.
Akin appeared on Good Morning America Wednesday morning but gave no indication of whether he would consider dropping out of the race at a later date. Akin said:
“I don’t know the future, but I do know this. I knew that the party voters took a look at our hearts, understood who we were, had a chance to meet us in many, many different ways and made a decision. And it makes me uncomfortable to think that the party bosses are going to dictate who runs as opposed to the election process.”
On his Twitter account, Akin said he went on GMA “to fight back against the liberal elite who continue their attacks.” He has also posted several tweets railing against the GOP, the capital, and the media, saying, “The media is against us. The Washington elites are against us. The party bosses are against us. Help us fight back.”
President Obama said Monday that Akin’s comments were offensive and didn’t make sense to him. He also said he believes most of the Republican party doesn’t agree with the representative’s views.
