Republican Politicians’ Controversial Rape Comments Highlighted in Meme

Republican Rape Comments Draw Scrutiny After Resurfaced Meme

A meme titled “Republicans on rape” circulating on social media since October 2025 has reignited controversy over statements made by Republican politicians and candidates regarding sexual assault. The collection of six quotes, shared by progressive organization Occupy Democrats, has been verified as authentic despite spanning decades of political discourse.

The meme gained significant attention when shared with the caption “You can fact check all of these quotes. They REALLY said all this,” prompting closer examination of the statements and their contexts.

Clayton Williams, who ran for Texas governor in 1990, made perhaps the most infamous comment while hosting journalists at his ranch. During a rainy morning cattle roundup, Williams compared the weather to rape, saying, “If it’s inevitable, just relax and enjoy it.” While he later apologized, Williams also defended the remark as “just a joke” made in “a man’s world” rather than at “a Republican women’s club.”

In 2012, Missouri Representative Todd Akin claimed during a television interview that pregnancy resulting from rape was “really rare,” adding, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” The comments derailed his reelection campaign despite subsequent apologies and attempts to clarify his position.

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, while running for president in 2012, told CNN’s Piers Morgan that rape victims should “make the best of a bad situation.” Discussing his opposition to abortion even in cases of rape, Santorum described pregnancy from sexual assault as “this horribly created, in the sense of rape, but nevertheless gift in a very broken way.”

Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock sparked controversy during a 2012 debate when he stated, “Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen.” He later attempted to clarify that he meant “God creates life” rather than suggesting God “pre-ordained rape.”

Texas State Representative Jodie Laubenberg demonstrated a profound misunderstanding of medical procedures during a 2013 debate over her own anti-abortion bill. Arguing against rape exceptions, she incorrectly claimed, “In emergency rooms they have what’s called rape kits, where a woman can get cleaned out.” Medical experts quickly pointed out that rape kits are forensic evidence collection tools with no role in preventing pregnancy or terminating pregnancies.

Perhaps most disturbing was former Maine State Representative Lawrence Lockman’s 1990 statement equating abortion rights with rape: “If a woman has (the right to an abortion), why shouldn’t a man be free to use his superior strength to force himself on a woman? At least the rapist’s pursuit of sexual freedom doesn’t (in most cases) result in anyone’s death.” When this comment resurfaced in 2014, Lockman issued an apology stating he “said things that I regret.”

The collection of statements spans three decades of Republican politics and highlights tensions between conservative positions on abortion and cases of sexual violence. While some of the politicians apologized or attempted to clarify their remarks, the statements continue to resurface in political discourse about reproductive rights and sexual assault.

Requests for comment from Santorum, Mourdock, and Lockman – the only individuals quoted in the meme who are still living – received no immediate response.