Rep. Akins reputation is beyond crisis management
“Legitimate rape.”
If you don’t know what I’m referring to, prepare to be shocked. This weekend, Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) was the guest on a St. Louis TV news program. A vocal opponent of abortion, Akin should be used to answering questions related to the subject, but when a reporter asked him about abortion specifically in instances of rape, the Congressman dropped this bomb:
“It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something: I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be of the rapist, and not attacking the child.”
Oh, did I mention that Rep. Akins, who appears to have no grasp at all on human physiology, is also a member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology? Go ahead, I’ll give you a minute to pick your jaws up off the floor.
Rep. Akins’ opponent in the Missouri race, Claire McCaskill, who happens to be both a woman and former criminal prosecutor, was quick to pounce on the sheer outrageous untruth of his comments, blasting the Congressman via Twitter and sharing a link to the clip of his self-destruction. Her outrage was shared by, well, everyone, and Akin’s stock fell faster than you could ask, “How’d that shoe taste?”
Fellow Republicans rushed to distance themselves as well, with some calling for Akin’s resignation, while others, like Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, a former ally, made public appearances assuring the public that they were not in agreement with his statements.
Akins did release a reply, but coming from a man who just last year co-sponsored a bill (with the aforementioned Ryan, no less) distinguishing between “rape” and “forcible rape,” the public took it as the blatant load of hot air that it is.
“In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it’s clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year”
When it comes to crisis management, Rep. Akins appears to be hopeless. Even while attempting damage control, he won’t admit that he made a HUGE mistake. Without that admission, and a proper mea culpa to go with it, there is no amount of crisis management that could save his future as a politician.
Frankly, if you want our opinion, with the amount of bleeding that Akin’s reputation has done already, along with the fact that the entire Republican party has essentially disowned the man, a defibrillator couldn’t bring this one back.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/