A Republican candidate in Michigan facing backlash after claiming he would tell his daughters to “lie back and enjoy it” if rape is inevitable.
House seat candidate, Robert “RJ” Regan, made the outlandish comments during a Facebook Livestream on Sunday, hosted by a conservative group, and quickly received harsh criticism from party leaders.
Regan made the comments while telling another participant that it was not too late to decertify the 2020 presidential election. While making a crude analogy, the Kent County candidate facetiously said he would tell his daughters: “Well, if rape is inevitable, you should just lie back and enjoy it.”
Regan has a history of making controversial statements; he also recently said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a “fake war just like the fake pandemic.”
State Republican Party Chairman Ron Weiser said 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,” Weiser continued.
Regan won a four-way special election to snag the Republican nomination for the seat last week and is favored to win the House seat in the GOP district.
