KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -
U.S. Rep. Todd Akin and his Senate campaign are again drawing scrutiny for their inflammatory remarks.
Akin said incumbent Claire McCaskill isn't acting as "ladylike" in this year's campaign as she did in 2006 when the Democrat first won.
Then his pollster compared Akin's situation to that of David Koresh, a cult leader who died along with 75 others after federal agents set their Texas compound on fire.
The Republican continued to campaign, including stops in Kansas City on Friday.
Akin's turmoil began last month when he said a woman's body has a way of preventing a pregnancy during "a legitimate rape." He repeatedly apologized for what he called a six-second stupid moment, but many national Republicans called on him to withdraw from the race.
Akin did not and some national Republicans began to rally around him after Tuesday's deadline passed.
It was unclear Friday afternoon how the latest controversies will affect him. During a news conference, Akin criticized his Democratic opponent who had told him to "stop campaigning" during last week's debate and return to Washington to approve a postal bill.
"I think we have a very clear path to victory, and apparently Claire McCaskill thinks we do, too, because she was very aggressive at the debate, which was quite different than it was when she ran against Jim Talent," Akin said at a news conference in the state Capitol. "She had a confidence and was much more ladylike (in 2006), but in the debate on Friday she came out swinging, and I think that's because she feels threatened."
McCaskill pounced on the comments both via social media and interviews on MSNBC. She said Akin continues to prove why Missourians should vote for her, saying he is too extreme for the Show-Me State.
Her campaign said McCaskill was "at a loss for words" that she was unladylike.
"As a strong and informed former courtroom prosecutor, Claire merely pointed out how extreme Congressman Akin's views really are while making the case for why Missourians should keep her as a moderate senator on our side," the spokesman said.
Akin maintained Friday that the latest uproar is much ado about nothing.
"We got a couple of words in the English language, one is a gentleman and a lady," Akin said. "We've got in the president, we have a First Lady. In churches, there is a first lady. I think those are pretty self-explanatory terms. I was using them just as the English language uses those terms."
KCTV5's Bonyen Lee asked Akin about his thoughts on women's role in society.
"That seems to be pretty evident. I look at the fact that we're all Americans. We all have the idea of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness," he said.
Later Friday, Twitter lit up after the Huffington Post reported that Akin's pollster said Republican efforts to get Akin out of the race "was like Waco with David Koresh situation, where they're trying to smoke him out with the SWAT teams and the helicopters and the bad Nancy Sinatra records."
Kellyanne Conway added, "Then here comes day two and you realize the guy's not coming out of the bunker. Listen, Todd has shown his principle to the voters."
The pollster went on to cite Akin's Koresh-like determination.
Conway later said she did not mean to compare the two men.
"My comparison was to the tactics used to push Akin from the race, not the men involved," she wrote in an email to the online news site. "I would never compare David Koresh to Todd Akin."
She told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that her comments were about "how overbearing the Republicans had been. It was about the tactics being used to force (Akin) out. I wasn't comparing the (two) men ... I don't consider David Koresh a man of fortitude. Todd Akin is a man of fortitude."
Akin's campaign had a succinct response to Conway's original remarks.
"It was a stupid comment to make," a spokesman told the St. Louis newspaper.
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