Unsurprisingly, Republican supporters at all levels are distancing themselves from Wisconsin Rep. Roger Rivard after his comment that “some girls rape easy” (by which he meant cry rape easily if they get pregnant from premarital sex) came to light on Wednesday. But they didn’t call on him to drop out of the race. Paul Ryan dropped his support as soon as the story surfaced, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker had disowned Rivard by midday Thursday. By Thursday evening, State Rep. Robin Vos (who earlier in the day said Rivard would be reelected based on “entire record, not a single sentence”) put out a statement saying, “I cannot stand behind Roger Rivard.” Most important, Vos took with him the financial support of the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee.
But for all their scrambling to disassociate themselves from him, none of Rivard’s former Republican allies came out and said he should drop out of the race, as they did with U.S. Rep. Todd Akin earlier in the summer when he said women’s reproductive systems could shut down in cases of “legitimate rape.” One Wisconsin politico, Scott Ross, of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, “if Ryan really finds his comments offensive, he should call on Rivard to drop out of the race.” But Ryan and his fellow Republicans have been silent on that topic. It seems they’re perfectly happy to kick out the supports and let Rivard fall under the weight of his own stupid comments, rather than give him any more press by arguing publicly about his political future.
