Sen. Brown calls for Akin to step down as GOP Senate nominee

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) called for Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) to resign from the race for Missouri's Senate seat in light of Akin's controversial comments on rape that came out this weekend.

"As a husband and father of two young women, I found Todd Akin's comments about women and rape outrageous, inappropriate and wrong. There is no place in our public discourse for this type of offensive thinking.  Not only should he apologize, but I believe Rep. Akin's statement was so far out of bounds that he should resign the nomination for U.S. Senate in Missouri," he said in a statement.

Akin's comments, that "the female body has ways to shut that whole thing down" if it's a "legitimate rape," sparked outrage from members of both parties on Sunday, with Republicans quickly distancing themselves from his statement and Democrats working to tie Akin to other Republicans.

Brown earlier tweeted a call for an apology from Akin, but his statement, which came shortly after, joins other Republicans who have begun to wonder whether Akin needs to remove himself from the race to preserve Republican chances in what was once considered a likely easy win for the party.

He is the first GOP senator to call for Akin to step down.

Massachusetts Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren has not yet released a statement on Akin's comments. She and Brown are locked in a neck-and-neck race for that state's Senate seat.

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