Robert Regan, a Republican candidate for the Michigan House of Representatives, is taking some heavy criticism after he made a crude analogy that involved a hypothetical rape of his own daughters, reports Fox 17.
While talking on Facebook Live with Adam de Angeli of the Michigan Rescue Coalition, Regan said that he didn’t believe that it was inevitable that the 2020 election would not be overturned, despite the fact that no purported evidence of voter fraud has so far held up in court.
It was in this context when discussing inevitability that Regan made his comment about rape.
“Having three daughters, I tell my daughters, ‘if rape is inevitable, you should just lay back and enjoy it,'” he said.
The comment drew an immediate rebuke from Amber Harris, who was also a guest on the show and who called Regan’s comments “shameful.”
Carol Glanville, Regan’s Democratic opponent, also slammed him for talking about his own daughters getting raped.
“I did not think I would need to clearly state on the campaign trail that rape is never inevitable, acceptable, or warranted and is the worst type of personal violation anyone could ever experience. In empathy and compassion, I stand with survivors everywhere while defending human rights,” she said.
Two years ago, one of Regan’s daughters publicly discouraged people from supporting her father during a different bid to win political office.
“If you’re in Michigan and 18+ please for the love of god do not vote for my dad,” she wrote on Twitter at the time. “Tell everyone.”