A Republican nominee for the Michigan House of Representatives said during a Facebook Livestream that he tells his daughters to “lie back and enjoy” rape if it’s “inevitable.”
Robert “RJ” Regan a Republican who won a special election last week to fill the Michigan House seat in District 74, made the comments while speaking on a Facebook Live for the Michigan Rescue Coalition which supports Donald Trump’s baseless claim that the 2020 election was “stolen,” Newsweek reports.
“Having three daughters, I tell my daughters, ‘Well, if rape is inevitable, you should just lie back and enjoy it,’” Regan said. “That’s not how we roll, that’s not how we won this election.”
“That was a shameful comment,” Amber Harris, a Republican strategist on the livestream said in response to Reagan’s remark.
The livestream’s host, Adam de Angeli pointed out that the show is “streaming on YouTube,” then added: “probably not for much longer after what Robert said.”
Regan, a QAnon supporting conspiracy theorist and supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, won last Tuesday’s GOP primary by just 81 votes. He lost this race in 2020 after a viral tweet from his own daughter told people not to vote for him.
“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 tweeted at the time.
Regan told ABC that his remarks on the livestream were taken out of context and used against him by a “leftist group doing what they do.”
But even Republican Tori Sachs of the Michigan Freedom Fund slammed Regan for his comments and condemned his recent support for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Fox17.
“RJ Regan’s disgusting and dehumanizing comments on the horror of sexual assault along with his support of murderous dictator Vladimir Putin are despicable and completely disqualify him from holding public office,” Sachs said. “I teach my four young daughters to stand up for themselves, to know their worth, and to fight back and speak out against creeps like Regan. RJ Regan doesn’t belong anywhere near the state Capitol, and that is why we endorsed and supported his opponent.”
The district seat is because former Rep. Mark Huizenga was elected to the vacant 28th Senate District, which had been left empty when then-Sen. Peter MacGregor left to become the Kent County treasurer. Regan will face Democrat Carol Glanville in the special election on May 3.
The GOP wants to take America backwards. This guy has no shame and has lost his daughters in a quest to please Trump? So very messed up!
When your own daughter publicly begs people not to vote for you, maybe there is good reason.