Candidate Ignites Controversy with 'Lie Back and Enjoy It' Rape Comment — Which He Says Is Misconstrued
JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Robert Regan
A Republican candidate for a seat in Michigan's House of Representatives continues to face backlash for comments he made last month during a Facebook live stream.
Robert Regan — who is favored to win in the state legislature's House District 74 — was speaking as part of a virtual panel held by a conservative group when the topic of discussion turned to the 2020 election (the results of which former President Donald Trump continues to baselessly claim were "rigged" against him).
When one panelist at the March panel said it was "too late" to continue challenging the election results, Regan responded: "I tell my daughters, 'Well, if rape is inevitable, you should just lie back and enjoy it.' "
That statement sparked immediate blowback, even from within Regan's own party.
"Mr. Regan's history of foolish, egregious and offensive comments, including his most recent one are simply beyond the pale," Michigan Republican Party co-chair Ron Weiser said in a statement. "We are better than this as a party and I absolutely expect better than this of our candidates."
RELATED: Former Michigan Lawmaker Accused of Sexually Assaulting Sister-in-Law When She Was a Minor
Regan's comments on rape echo similar remarks made by Texas GOP gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams back in 1990. As The New York Times reported at the time, Williams made his remarks at an event at his West Texas ranch, comparing cold weather to sexual assault by saying, "If it's inevitable, just relax and enjoy it."
Williams lost his race to Democrat Ann Richards.
Both Williams and Regan were preceded, however, by famed college basketball coach Bob Knight, who told reporter Connie Chung in 1988, "I think that if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it," when asked about the stress of an important game.
Prior to making his own remark, Regan won his primary by just 81 votes and advanced early last month to the general election.
As alluded to in Wiser's statement, Regan has made other incendiary comments, using social media to post bizarre claims about feminism, which he called a "Jewish program to degrade white men," and other posts promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories.
The Washington Post reported last month that Regan said elsewhere in same discussion at last month's event that, if elected, he would work to decertify the results of the 2020 election in Michigan (the Post noted that a state can't decertify an election, under both state and federal law).
Equating the election with a stolen car or jewelry, Regan said, "We do want to decertify this election and we do want it returned to the rightful owner ... You decertify and you give it to the rightful owner, and that's Donald Trump, and that's what I'm pushing for and we're going full-bore on that."
The Post also noted that one of Regan's own daughters had urged Michigan residents not to vote for him during his unsuccessful 2020 campaign to be a state representative.
"If you're in Michigan and 18+ pls for the love of god do not vote for my dad for state rep. Tell everyone," Stephanie Regan posted on Twitter at the time.
In a statement to his campaign website, Regan — who did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment on Friday — said that his rape comment had been "intentionally truncated," doubling down on the initial remark he had made.
"Here are my exact words: 'That's kind of like — I have three daughters, and I tell my daughters if rape is inevitable, you should just lie back and enjoy it. That is not how we roll. That is not how I won this election. We go right at it.' "
He continued: "My message was intentionally truncated to make it look like I said one thing, when in fact, I was saying the exact opposite. We don't take it laying down, nothing is inevitable, even in the face of insurmountable odds, we fight, always we fight. That is part of our fabric as American citizens when we defeated world superpower Great Britain 250 years ago."
