Obama Responds to Akin: ‘Rape is Rape’

*(Via The Hill) – President Obama on Monday called Rep. Todd Akin’s remarks about rape “offensive” and sought to tie the Republican Senate candidate to the GOP presidential ticket.

“Rape is rape,” Obama said at a White House press briefing. He called Akin’s comments “way out there.”

Defining rape, he said, “doesn’t make sense to the American people and doesn’t make sense to me.”

“What I think these comments do underscore is why we shouldn’t have a bunch of politicians, the majority of which are men, making decisions that affect health of women,” Obama said.

Democrats have pounced on Akin’s comments, which could make Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) a favorite in the Missouri Senate race overnight.

Akin said in an interview with a local Fox affiliate released on Sunday that, in cases of “legitimate rape,” pregnancy is rare because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”