The Republican nominee in a race for a Michigan House seat stirred controversy with regard to a comment he made about rape and his daughters.
Robert Regan, a candidate favored to win the 74th District in west Michigan, was participating in a Facebook livestream Sunday for the Michigan Rescue Coalition when he claimed that he tells his three daughters that “if rape is inevitable, you should just lie back and enjoy it.”
Facing growing outrage, Regan told Bridge Michigan on Monday that he meant to stress that “nothing is inevitable” when he made the remark.
“Sometimes, my words aren’t as smooth and polished as the politicians are because I’m not a politician,” Regan said. “I’m working on it. The only reason the [leftist] trolls attack you is because they know you’re directly over the target, dropping direct hits on an issue. If you’re not scoring hits, they leave you alone.”
WHITMER KIDNAPPING DEFENDANTS REEL FROM LAST-MINUTE SETBACKS AS TRIAL BEGINS
Other speakers on the livestream criticized Regan’s comment. Fellow speaker Amber Harris called it “shameful.” Adam de Angeli, the host of the stream, told ABC 7 on Monday that he believes Regan “misspoke.”
The host of the show, Adam de Angeli, tells me he believes Regan “misspoke,” trying to say that not contesting the election *would be like* telling his daughters to lay back and enjoy rape.
“Maybe not the best analogy,” de Angeli said, “but he was speaking extemporaneously.” https://t.co/bIi48X2Emi
— Ross Jones (@rossjonesWXYZ) March 7, 2022
“[It was] maybe not the best analogy, but he was speaking extemporaneously,” de Angeli said.
Carol Glanville, the Democratic nominee running in the same district as Regan, posted a screenshot of the livestream on social media. She wrote that she was “stunned that a person who wishes to hold public office would hold such beliefs.”
As a woman, human, and public servant, I am stunned that a person who wishes to hold public office would hold such beliefs.
Rape is never inevitable, acceptable, or warranted and is the worst type of personal violation. Learn more + support my campaign: https://t.co/9gwjZNXOZG pic.twitter.com/yyIRtV1evt
— Carol Glanville (@caglanville) March 8, 2022
Tori Sachs of the Michigan Freedom Fund, a conservative nonprofit organization, released a statement condemning Regan’s comment as well as “his support of murderous dictator Vladimir Putin.”
“I teach my four young daughters to stand up for themselves, to know their worth, and to fight back and speak out against creeps like Regan,” Sachs’s statement reads, adding that Regan “doesn’t belong anywhere near the state Capitol, and that is why we endorsed and supported his opponent.”
The Michigan Republican Party shared a statement with the Washington Examiner.
“Mr. Regan’s history of foolish, egregious and offensive comments, including his most recent one are simply beyond the pale. We are better than this as a Party and I absolutely expect better than this of our candidates,” said Michigan GOP Chairman Ron Weiser.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In a viral tweet from 2020, one of Regan’s daughters urged people not to vote for her father. “If you’re in Michigan and 18+ pls for the love of god do not vote for my dad for state rep. Tell everyone,” Stephanie Regan said, according to The Hill.
