In an effort to take advantage of Wisconsin governor Scott Walker’s position on abortion in the case of rape, All In host Chris Hayes labeled the likely Republican presidential candidate’s statements the “first Todd Akin moment of the 2016 campaign.” Hayes was seemingly upset over a 20-week abortion ban that may – or may not – include exceptions for pregnancies that resulted from rape or incest.
Walker’s comments were not anywhere near as scary as Hayes made them out to be. The Wisconsin governor explained why the two exceptions might not be necessary:
I mean, I think for most people who are concerned about that, it's in the initial months when they're most concerned about it. In this case, again, it's an unborn life, it's an unborn child, and that's why we feel strongly about it. I'm prepared to sign it.
Hayes also quoted Walker’s discussion on mandatory ultrasounds. He mocked Walker’s earlier statements by joking that “ultrasounds are cool.” Of course, the Wisconsin governor was not talking about mandatory ultrasounds, but ultrasounds in general, where you can see the unborn life. This seems to escape Hayes.
The All In host continued his screed by discussing the Republican Party’s supposedly dire position among women in presidential politics:
Heading into the 2016, the Republican Party already has an uphill battle to win over women voters. The gender gap in 2012 was the largest in the history of the Gallup poll, with President Obama winning among female voters by 12 points. And after catastrophic gaffes, like Akin's famous legitimate rape comment, the GOP has spent the past few years trying to repair the damage. For example, launching a program to recruit female candidates and tutoring Republican congressmen in how to run against women without being offensive. This time around, the Democrats are likely to end up with a nominee who performs pretty well among female voters.
Hayes ended the rant by noting that the number of female Democrats in office the last 25 years has skyrocketed, while Republican numbers have stayed relatively flat. Hayes has been looking for every opportunity to destroy conservatives on abortion (see this panel from All In the other night where guests on the program lamented the exclusion of trans men from abortion dialogue) so it should come as no surprise that he would jump on Scott Walker’s rather innocuous statements.
Hayes brought on Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who repeated his schtick back at him: "Well, this is Scott Walker's Todd Akin moment. I could not believe that our governor in a few short words showed how deeply out of touch he is with the women of Wisconsin and the women of this country. And frankly, his policies with regard to women's reproductive health are actually dangerous."
The relevant portion of the transcript is below.
MSNBC
All In with Chris Hayes
8:00 p.m. Eastern
June 3, 2015CHRIS HAYES, host: Good evening from New York, I’m Chris Hayes. The Republican Party just had it’s first Todd Akin moment of the 2016 campaign. Wisconsin governor and likely presidential candidate Scott Walker announced he intends to sign a 20-week abortion ban now moving through the state legislature even if that bill makes no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.
GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R), WISCONSIN: I mean, I think for most people who are concerned about that, it's in the initial months when they're most concerned about it. In this case, again, it's an unborn life, it's an unborn child, and that's why we feel strongly about it. I'm prepared to sign it.
HAYES: Walker did not say how he knows most women become pregnant due to a rape or incest are mostly only concerned about what to do for the initial months of that pregnancy. But he seems to know and he`ll sign that bill. Those comments come less than a week after Walker defended a Wisconsin law that requires women seeking an abortion to undergo a mandatory ultrasound, that`s not when they consent to. It`s required by law by saying oh no, ultrasounds are cool.
WALKER: The media tried to make that sound like that was a crazy idea. Most people I talk to, whether pro-life or not, I find people all the time who get out their iPhone and show me a picture of their grandkid's
ultrasound and how excited they are. So that's a lovely thing. I think about, my sons are 19 and 20, and we still their first ultrasound picture, it`s just a cool thing out there.
HAYES: Heading into the 2016, the Republican Party already has an uphill battle to win over women voters. The gender gap in 2012 was the largest in the history of the Gallup poll, with President Obama winning among female voters by 12 points. And after catastrophic gaffes, like Akin's famous legitimate rape comment, the GOP has spent the past few years trying to repair the damage. For example, launching a program to recruit female candidates and tutoring Republican congressmen in how to run against women without being offensive. This time around, the Democrats are likely to end up with a nominee who performs pretty well among female voters. And while Republicans have a deep bench of over a dozen presidential candidates, only one of them is a woman, Carly Fiorina, currently polling at 1.4 percent in the Real Clear Politics average. Last night, we showed you this chart with the percentage of women serving in the House and Senate since 1917 divided by party. It's pretty much even until 1990, at which point the number of Democratic women shoots up and Republicans fall way, way behind. When I talked yesterday with Senator Barbara Boxer, one of 14 Democratic women in the Senate, I asked her what she made of that chart.
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: I think what we`ve seen happen to the Republican Party over time is they've changed dramatically. They used to be for the Equal Rights Amendment. They used to be for equal pay for equal work. They used to be pro-choice. I remember when I was involved early on in my career, probably before you were born, in Planned Parenthood and these other groups, Republicans were leading the way, and they’ve changed dramatically. Now, we have a party that does not reflect the dreams, hopes, aspirations of our daughters.
HAYES: As the senator points out, this is more than just a rhetorical shift. It`s borne out in the policies embraced by Republican politicians, like the 20-week abortion ban. Scott Walker says he'll sign, which not only prohibits exceptions for rape and incest, it would also allow the father to sue for emotional distress if he disagrees with the woman's decision to terminate her pregnancy regardless of whether the man in question is in a relationship with the woman.
