Todd Akin and the magic condoms

Access to birth control has been an issue in campaigns across this country, but Congressman Todd Akin had a different take it on the topic during a Republican debate earlier this year.

Akin, whose campaign has been dogged by his claim that a woman can't become pregnant if she is legitimately raped (and scores of other strange comments he has made), told the tale of the miracle condoms. it is the latest Akin statement to be noted by his opponent, Sen. Claire McCaskill's campaign team. The news release is printed below.


At a Republican U.S. Senate debate in March, Todd Akin devolved into a wild tangent filled with sensational rhetoric saying,  “I can only think of one example in history where socialized condoms led to actual freedom.” Voters now know that Akin has established a pattern of using this kind of sensational rhetoric to rationalize his strange and extreme beliefs and distract voters from his views that are wrong for Missouri.

Akin Said He Only Knew of One Time “Socialized Condoms Led to Actual Freedom.” During a debate on KMOX in March 2012, Akin said “I can only think of one example in history where socialized condoms led to actual freedom. And it was on the Wall Street Journal, on the front page years ago… Chinese government was so excited about condoms. They had a lot of them. So, a guy inflated a whole a lot and made a life raft and floated his whole family to freedom with a life raft buoyed by condoms. Now there's an example of freedom from socialized condoms. It's the only one in the world.” [Akin at KMOX Debate, 3/16/12]

"Todd Akin's fear of socialized condom life rafts is almost as absurd as his commitment to getting rid of Social Security and Medicare," said Erik Dorey, McCaskill for Missouri spokesman. "While Todd Akin lays awake at night, asking himself whether "socialized condoms" bring freedom to the oppressed, Claire's focused on issues that actually matter, such as protecting Medicare and Social Security, federal student loans and the minimum wage.”