Todd Akin’s Senate campaign is blasting Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus for cutting off party support to the embattled candidate.
Republicans have argued that Akin should step aside in the wake of his false comment about women’s bodies preventing pregnancy in cases of “legitimate rape,” and allow the party to replace him with a nominee who would be more likely to beat Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.
Priebus turned up the heat this week, saying that the party won’t support Akin even if he is in a position to win.
“He could be tied,” Priebus told conservative bloggers Ben Howe and Chris Loesch in a video posted on Monday. “We’re not gonna send him a penny.”
Akin’s camp fired back in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
“Reince Priebus’ comments are extremely dissappointing [sic],” said Akin campaign manager Perry Akin, who is also Todd Akin’s son. “He claims the mantle of freedom, liberty and the good of America, but this betrays his apparent personal vendetta against Todd Akin. He is putting party power and political games ahead of the good of the country.”
The PollTracker Average shows McCaskill leading Akin, 45.6 percent to 38.8 percent.