Poor Todd Akin! First he’s the target of anonymous death threats over his biologically-confused “illegitimate rape” remark, and now Karl Rove wants in on the action. On Thursday, Bloomberg Businessweek’s Sheelah Kolhatkar sat in on an American Crossroads fundraiser at the Tampa Club where Rove joked to 70 top donors that, “We should sink Todd Akin. If he’s found mysteriously murdered, don’t look for my whereabouts!” Oh, what a laugh they all must’ve had.
Yesterday, Akin’s press secretary released the following statement:
Given the current FBI investigation of threats against Congressman Akin and calls for acts of violence and rape against his family and staff, joking as to the potential murder of Congressman Akin is deeply disturbing. I am certain he misspoke.
Not long after, Akin adviser Rick Tyler confirmed to Politico’s Alexander Burns that Rove had already called to apologize. (During the conversation, Rove reportedly said he certainly wouldn’t have made the off-color remark had he known there was a reporter present.) Still, the Akin people still believe “the right thing to do would be for Karl to make a public apology.” Considering the number of people willing to do anything but make public denouncements of Akin at the moment, we’d say that’s less than likely.
