Michigan state House candidate tries clarify comments on rape, Putin

A Michigan state House candidate sought to clarify comments he made about rape and supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, NBC affiliate WOOD reported. 

During an appearance Sunday on a livestream hosted by Coalition to Rescue Michigan, Robert Regan, who last week won the GOP’s special primary for Michigan’s 74th district, suggested the Biden administration has been weak, contributing to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. 

“Everybody knows how weak we are. Putin is a tyrant. Putin is KGB. We all know who he is. He understands the United States cannot be trusted to protect him against corrupt Ukraine, the money laundering capital of the world, human and drug trafficking,” Regan said during the stream. 

“Putin said, ‘I have to protect my country, have to protect my children.’ I can’t count on the United States. So what he did, he took some proactive action. He went in Ukraine, knocked out the bio labs, knocked out the missile sites so he can protect his people, which was all a direct reflection on a weak president,” Regan added. 

Asked by the NBC affiliate about his Putin comments, Regan backtracked his initial response.

“I would not say that I specifically support the activities of Vladimir Putin,” Regan said. “All I was trying to suggest is when I see someone like George Soros say we absolutely need to support Ukraine and I see all of the news media jump on board and say, ‘We all need to get behind Ukraine and condemn Putin,’ we’ve just been lied to for the last two years.”

Regan, a local entrepreneur, also used a rape analogy when discussing his beliefs that the 2020 presidential election should be decertified.

“You know that’s kind of like having three daughters, and I tell my daughters, well, if rape is inevitable, you should just lie back and enjoy it. That’s not how we roll. That’s not how I won this election,” Regan said on the live stream.

Regan later clarified that he would never say such a thing to his daughters, according to the NBC affiliate. 

“And my comment was, listen, you would never say something like that to a woman,” Regan said. “I have three daughters and I would never say that if rape is inevitable you should just lie back and enjoy it. I mean, that’s horrible. Nobody agrees with that.”

Regan’s remarks come two years after his daughter, Stephanie, urged local voters to not elect her father during a previous House run. 

“If you’re in Michigan and 18+ pls for the love of god do not vote for my dad for state rep. Tell everyone,” Regan wrote in her Twitter post.