Nearly two days after Richard Mourdock said rape pregnancies were something “God intended to happen,” the Republican National Committee is still keeping mum on the controversy over the Indiana Senate candidate’s remarks.
The RNC did not respond to msnbc.com’s repeated requests for comment Thursday, and has yet to weigh in on the flap.
At its convention in Tampa this summer, the GOP approved a party platform that, like Mourdock, would ban abortion even in cases of rape or incest. The RNC’s silence on Mourdock’s comments underscores the extent to which the party remains committed to that view.
Several high-profile Republicans have distanced themselves from Mourdock, but others have expressed support. Sen. John Cornyn, who chairs the GOP’s Senate campaign committee, said the comments were being twisted in an “irresponsible and ridiculous manner.” And Josh Mandel, the party’s candidate for Senate in Ohio, called Mourdock “a class act.”
Mitt Romney, who has said he supports exceptions for rape and incest, put out a statement saying he disagrees with Mourdock’s comments but continues to support him. He has not called on Mourdock to pull down an ad in which the two men appear, despite calls from Democrats to do so. When Rep. Todd Akin made comments about “legitimate rape” this summer, RNC chair Reince Priebus was quick to declare that the Missouri Senate candidate should drop out of the race.
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