Jack Willke, Todd Akin’s Rape Expert, Claims He Met Privately with Mitt Romney Last Year

Dr. Jack Willke

Via TPM, according to the Daily Telegraph, Dr. Jack Willke, who was identified by the NYT as the source of Todd Akin’s belief that “legitimate” rape victims cannot get pregnant, says he had a private meeting with Mitt Romney in October 2011.

Mr Romney and Paul Ryan, his running mate, have denounced Mr Akin’s remarks. Dr Willke has been given no role in Mr Romney’s 2012 campaign and aides stress that the candidate disagrees with his theory on rape.

However, Dr Willke told The Daily Telegraph that he did meet Mr Romney during a presidential primary campaign stop in the doctor’s home city of Cincinnati, Ohio, in October last year. Local news reports at the time noted that the candidate held “private meetings” during the visit.

“He told me ‘thank you for your support – we agree on almost everything, and if I am elected President I will make some major pro-life pronouncements’,” Dr Willke said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

“I thanked him, and said I knew where he was – that he was 99 per cent of what we wanted,” he said of the roughly ten-minute meeting. “I told him I would help in any way I could”. A spokesman for Mr Romney declined to comment.

Willke has also met with VP candidate Paul Ryan several times.

He said that after listening to Dr Willke’s views on abortion during their last encounter, Mr Ryan replied: “That’s where I’m at”.

This is getting interesting. This is the first time I’ve ever looked forward to watching a Republican National Convention.

This is an open thread.