ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Embattled Republican U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin says that he is staying in the race for U.S. Senate, one day after his campaign said that the Congressman and his family were the target of threats including rape and death.
In his brief statement on Friday afternoon in St. Louis, Akin said that he is sticking in the race through November, and is in the race “to win.”
Akin has been under pressure from Republicans across the nation, including presumptive GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and many prominent Missouri Republicans, to quit the U.S. Senate race after making inflammatory comments about rape and pregnancy in a St. Louis television interview last weekend.
On Thursday, Akin’s campaign announced that U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI are now investigating the threats against Akin, a six-term U.S. Congressman from the St. Louis area.
“Capitol police are working with an outside law enforcement agency regarding threatening contact with our official office,” said campaign communications director Steve Taylor in a statement. “The office of Congressman Akin has received threats of rape of his official staff, family and the Congressman himself along with suggestions that individuals should die.”
According to the Associated Press, the Capitol Police declined to comment on the specifics of the threats, or if Akin’s security has been increased as a result of the threats.
Last Sunday, during an interview with KTVI-FOX 2 in St. Louis, when he was asked if rape could ever be a reason to have an abortion, he said, “It seems to be, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, it’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down.”
Click here for more on this story from FOX 2 in St. Louis.
