Todd Akin Says His Downfall Was Like Joe McCarthy

Former Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that his downfall in the 2012 Missouri Senate race was like that of former Sen. Joe McCarthy (R-WI), “who in the 1950s was discredited after making allegations that many thought overstated Communist influence in the U.S. government.”

Said Akin: “I use McCarthy as an example of someone who was assassinated by the media, so he had no credibility.”

Akin believes he was politically assassinated by “intentional and dishonest” distortions of what he said about rape and pregnancy in 2012.