Influential Conservatives Defending Akin

THINK PROGRESS

Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) has apologized for his suggestion that women who have suffered a “legitimate rape” cannot be impregnated, admitting his serious error in biology. Much of the pressure for this move has come from Republican figures who have called on him to resign, including Senator Ron Johnson, S.E. Cupp, former Rep. Heather Burns, Adam Hasner, Ramesh Ponnuru, and Ric Grennell. But several prominent Republicans and right-wing organizations have come out in support of the beleaguered Senate candidate. Here, in no particular order, is a list of five of them:

1. Erick Erickson. The RedState honcho and CNN contributor excused Akin’s scientifically illiterate remarks as simply “inarticulate” and then accused President Obama of being pro-infanticide, saying: “the people horrid by Todd Akin’s remarks are, I’m sure, thrilled to have a President who defended infanticide. I’ll take Todd Akin’s inarticulate remarks over an infanticide supporter any day of the week.” Somewhat ironically, Erickson is now claiming that Akin will withdraw from the race.
2. Tony Perkins. The head of the Family Research Council said “we support [Akin] fully and completely” and that “I think that Todd Akin is getting a really bad break here.”
3. Chris and Dana Loesch. The conservative commentary power couple both lept to Akin’s defense. Chris claimed that “what [Akin] said was medically correct” while Dana wrote that Akin’s comments were less bad than his opponent Claire McCaskill’s record by “any real standard of measurement.”
4. Bryan Fischer. The American Family Association’s “director of issue analysis” straight-up defended Akin’s position, tweeting “Todd Akin is right: physical trauma of forcible rape can interfere w/ hormonal production, conception.”
5. Marjorie Dannenfelser. The head of the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony list said that “We are proud to support Congressman Akin,” but later backtracked, amending her statement to “Congressman Akin has been an excellent partner in the fight for the unborn.”
6. Glenn Reynolds. The popular pundit and law professor simply wrote “BY THE TIME I NOTICED THIS STORY, IT WAS OVER, but Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” remarks pale in comparison with Whoopi Goldberg’s.”

A seventh example, a bizarre foray into pseudoscience by the The Daily Caller’s Matt Lewis, was definitively debunked earlier today.