Former Republican Missouri Rep. Todd Akin died late Sunday after a years-long battle with cancer, and critics danced on his grave immediately after news broke of his death.
Critics referred to Akin’s comments about “legitimate rape” during his 2012 Senate campaign. A local television station asked Akin if he supported access to abortion for women who were raped, and he responded that such cases were “really rare” because “if it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try and shut that whole thing down.”
Akin later apologized for his comments and said he had “great empathy for all victims” and regretted misspeaking.
Twitter users took Akin’s death as a chance to bring up the comments again.
The Daily Beast referred to Akin as “the ex-congressman who wrecked his career by sharing his wildly offensive and wrong opinion” that women rarely get pregnant from rape. (RELATED: George Will: Trump A ‘One-Man Todd Akin’ For GOP, Acting Like A ‘Democratic Mole’)
Todd Akin, the ex-congressman who wrecked his career by sharing his wildly offensive and wrong opinion that women rarely get pregnant if they suffer from “legitimate rape,” has died at the age of 74 https://t.co/RDWSm4AJon
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) October 4, 2021
Journalist Imani Gandy praised The Associated Press for contextualizing Akin’s death by including his comments in their headline.
“Nice legacy, jackass,” Gandy said.
Whoever is running this account should get an award for contextualizing who Todd Akin was.
Nice legacy, jackass.
Great job, AP’s social media person. 👏🏾👏🏾 https://t.co/rjHhyDenR1
— 🎃Imani Gandy Corn🎃 (@AngryBlackLady) October 4, 2021
Left-wing blogger Majid Padellan, also known as “Brooklyn Dad Defiant,” said that Akin “just discovered what ‘legitimate death’ looks like firsthand.”
Todd Akin, the guy who invented the idiotic phrase “legitimate rape,” has just discovered what “legitimate death” looks like firsthand.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) October 4, 2021
“The body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down. Todd Akin’s life, that is,” wrote the St. Louis-based outlet Riverfront Times. (RELATED: Rep. Issa Warns ‘Trump Could Be A National Todd Akin’ [VIDEO])
The body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down. Todd Akin’s life, that is. #ToddAkin https://t.co/YltsVnYAgj
— Riverfront Times (@RiverfrontTimes) October 4, 2021
“Must have been a legitimate cancer,” journalist Eoin Higgins said on Twitter.
Must have been a legitimate cancerhttps://t.co/K92Zw7WzS3
— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) October 4, 2021
Former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, who was Akin’s Democratic opponent in the 2012 Senate race, posted a statement praising Akin for being “authentic to his beliefs” and a “nice man.”
“I just learned that Todd Akin has died. He was a nice man, and although we had major disagreements about just about everything, he was authentic to his beliefs,” McCaskill wrote. “He actually believed in everything he said, which is a tribute to his character. My thoughts are with his lovely family.”