'Legitimate rape' congressman Todd Akin thinks Donald Trump is 'refreshing'

As many Republicans scramble to distance themselves from Donald Trump, former Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) is embracing the candidate's brash words as a "breath of fresh air." In an interview with the Morning Consult published Friday, Akin said he saw similarities between how the establishment is treating Trump and how he himself was treated after commenting on "legitimate rape" back in 2012, when he was roundly denounced by top Republicans during his Senate race for suggesting women seldom become pregnant from rape because "if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

Back then, Akin said, Republicans wanted to silence people outside the mainstream because establishment GOPers were afraid of what the liberal media might say — and he said that still holds true today. "It's because you've got an incredibly one-sided Democratic national media, and Republicans are scared to death of them," Akin said. "Look at my race. I got hammered, really, because I'm pro-life. That's the bottom line of it."

Though Akin admitted Trump wasn't his first choice out of the Republicans running in the primary, he thinks Trump might be the right choice because he's "pulling from such a different base." "People who haven't been hanging around or paying much attention to politics, you ask them what they think about the issues, sometimes they come up with a refreshing answer," Akin said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Head over to the Morning Consult to read the full interview.