Criticism has mounted this month against a candidate for a seat in Michigan’s House of Representatives, with the Trump-supporting Republican having inspired outcry from both major political parties after comments he made about rape.
Robert “RJ” Regan, per the Associated Press, delivered the remarks in question as part of a recent livestream panel that also featured other GOP voices. When another panelist, Amber Harris, mentioned it being “too late” with regards to Republicans continuing to focus on stated efforts of some sort of 2020 election decertification, Regan disagreed. To illustrate his point, he shared a rape analogy, as well as compared his political process to a showdown between two biblical characters.
“You know, having three daughters, and I tell my daughters, ‘Well, if rape is inevitable, you should just lie back and enjoy it.’ That’s not how we roll, that’s not how I won this election. We go right at it,” Regan said. “So what we did, we’re Goliath right now. You know, David and Goliath. We knocked Goliath down with the stone. But you all know, as good bible people, how did David kill Goliath? It wasn’t the stone. Once Goliath was knocked down, [he took] Goliath’s sword and cut off his head. So what we do is keep moving forward.”
A number of Republicans and Democrats later spoke out against Regan’s remarks, including the state’s Republican Party Chairman, Ron Weiser. In an AP-cited statement, Weiser—who previously congratulated Regan on his GOP primary win—pointed to what he argued is Regan’s “history of foolish, egregious, and offensive comments.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Laurie Pohutsky—a Democrat—called Regan “horrid” in a tweet shared this week.
Regan later addressed the criticism in a statement shared with regional Michigan outlet FOX 17, arguing that “slanderous reporting” had taken place and that his comments had been “intentionally truncated.” Regan conceded, however, that he did “regret using an analogy that could so easily have been taken out of context.”
Back in 2020, Regan made headlines after one of his daughters spoke out on social media in opposition to him being elected to office, advising voters in a viral tweet to “not vote for my dad.”
