Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) is not taking criticism from his party lying down.
The embattled Republican Senate candidate from Missouri, who has been all but abandoned by the GOP after stating that women rarely get pregnant from "legitimate rape," lashed out at Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Tuesday, accusing him in a statement posted on his website of holding a "personal vendetta."
Akin issued the statement in response to an interview Priebus gave on Monday, during which he stated that Akin would not get any money from the RNC, regardless of how the race goes. "He can be tied," Priebus said. "We're not gonna send him a penny."
He criticized Akin for staying in the race and suggested he was doing it for personal gain instead of putting country first.
"What I do love about some people in politics is they are in it for the cause," Priebus said. "If that's really where you're at, and you have the opportunity to put someone else in place that has a better chance of winning than you do, well then, you're not always the person who has to be the guy."
He went on. "I just think the people who want to do something special are always better than the people who want to be someone special."
Priebus said he had called Akin's campaign and left a message, but he had not heard back.
Akin's campaign called Priebus' comments "extremely disappointing" in a statement, and said his appearance "betrays his apparent personal vendetta against Todd Akin."
UPDATE: 4:25 p.m. -- Akin is not the only person on his campaign to feel the heat. Several staff members and volunteers have received emails urging them to quit or risk their future in the party, according to Akin spokesman Ryan Hite.
As the St. Louis Beacon reports:
A source close to Akin provided the Beacon a copy of one such email that allegedly came from a GOP committeeperson in central Missouri. The sender’s name had been blacked out.
"Many within the Republican Party have noticed your energetic and passionate work with Todd Akin’s Senate campaign,” the note read. “You are young, well spoken, and likeable. I have spoken with many other state committeemen and women and there is a consensus among those who know of you that you may very well be a rising star within the Missouri GOP. But not if you stay on Todd Akin’s failing campaign."
Reached for comment by the Beacon, a spokesperson for the Missouri Republican party strongly condemned the email. "We cannot verify the authenticity of this unsourced email, but we do know that it was absolutely not authorized or sent by the MRP."
Watch the video of Priebus below:
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