Wasserman Schultz fires back at Huckabee

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) fired back at Mike Huckabee on Thursday, saying he was "unfamiliar with the voice of a strong woman."

Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman for the Democratic Party, also criticized the former presidential candidate for not condemning Rep. Todd Akin's (R-Mo.) "legitimate rape" comments. 

“It is obvious that Gov. Huckabee is unfamiliar with the voice of a strong woman, which probably explains that while virtually every Republican leader save for him condemned Todd Akin's comments that were outrageous and unacceptable ... [Huckabee] backed him up by sending a fundraising email and rallying evangelicals in support of Todd Akin,” Wasserman Schultz said during a Tampa, Fla., news conference Thursday.

Wasserman Schultz was responding to a joke the former governor of Arkansas cracked about her during his prime-time speech at the GOP convention in Tampa, Fla.

“Tampa has been such a wonderful and hospitable city to us. The only hitch in an otherwise perfect week was the awful noise coming from the hotel room next door to mine,” Huckabee said during his speech Wednesday. “Turns out it was just Debbie Wasserman Schultz practicing her speech for the [Democratic National Convention] in Charlotte next week. Bless her heart.”

Huckabee was one of the first prominent Republicans to endorse Missouri Senate candidate Akin, even appearing in a campaign ad for him. Akin is running against Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).

Akin's remark, that pregnancy is rare in cases of "legitimate rape" because "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down," outraged many lawmakers, including Republicans. Even GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney called for Akin's resignation from the nomination. But Akin decided to remain in the race and increased his grassroots fundraising efforts with the help of fellow evangelical Huckabee.

—Erik Wasson contributed to this article.

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