American Taliban
Last week, Republican Rep. Trent Franks dismissed concerns about banning abortion for victims of rape and incest by saying that they really don't get pregnant all that often so it's no big deal. Republicans, eager to avoid a repeat of the Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock sagas, decided to replace him as manager of his abortion-ban bill, putting Rep. Marsha Blackburn in charge of leading debate on his proposal.
Today, asked about Franks' comments on MSNBC, Blackburn said:
Representative Franks has apologized for his comments.
Except he didn't apologize—
he fundraised off of his comments. In an email to supporters, he wrote (emphasis added):
NARAL, Planned Parenthood and the taxpayer-funded abortion lobby is attacking me for one reason -- I'm 100 percent unapologetically pro-life and I won't back down. Will you contribute $25, $50, $100, or even $500 right now to help me fight back?
That's not even a nopology. That's not even simply not offering apology. That's Trent Franks aggressively raising his middle finger to everyone who was concerned by what he said. Or, as the congresswoman charged with leading the GOP's efforts to ban abortions describes it: "Representative Franks has apologized for his comments."