National Republicans are keeping a steely distance from Missouri Senate nominee Todd Akin once more after he said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) wasn’t “ladylike” in their last debate.
“Decline to comment,” said a spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
“I think it’s best if the NRSC weighs in on these questions because we’re so focused on the presidential,” an RNC spokesperson said.
Akin made his latest incendiary charge in an interview with the Kansas City Star published Thursday.
“I think we have a very clear path to victory, and apparently Claire McCaskill thinks we do, too, because she was very aggressive at the debate, which was quite different than it was when she ran against Jim Talent,” Akin told the paper. “She had a confidence and was much more ladylike (in 2006), but in the debate on Friday she came out swinging, and I think that’s because she feels threatened.”
The McCaskill campaign declined to comment.
Akin’s remark came just days after the national Republican freeze out on Akin started to thaw. The NRSC opened the door to potentially supporting him again on Wednesday, just as Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Rick Santorum threw their support behind him.
The Missouri Republican Party promised to “do everything we can” for Akin on Tuesday. The party did not immediately respond to a request for comment following Akin’s latest remarks.
