A Republican candidate for the Missouri state legislature tweeted Monday night about his $25 donation to embattled Rep. Todd Akin's (R-Mo.) Senate campaign and called on others to help as well.
Fred Berry, a retired Army colonel and Tea Party supporter, touted the donation he made to Akin on both his Twitter and Facebook pages. The donation came the same day as national Republican leaders urged Akin to drop his Senate campaign after the Missouri congressman made comments saying that it was rare for a woman who was a victim of "legitimate rape" to get pregnant. Akin has until 5 p.m. on Tuesday to drop his challenge to Sen. Claire McCaskill (D), and after that a court order would be needed to remove a name from the ballot.
Berry, who was director of military education at the Pentagon during his Army career, was not available to immediately return a phone call or an email for comment. Berry is challenging Rep. Stephen Webber (D) for the seat, which encompasses parts of the city of Columbia, including the entire University of Missouri.
The timing of Berry's donation and request for others to help Akin comes as national and state Republicans attempt to push Akin out of the race, one of the most competitive in the country.
Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, have encouraged Akin to rethink his candidacy. Republican National Committee chairman Reince Preibus suggested Akin "step aside," as has the Tea Party Express.
Akin has insisted he will continue in the race and Tuesday morning purchased more television air time for his campaign. Locally, state Sen. Kurt Schaefer (R), whose district includes the entire district Webber and Berry are competing in, has also called on Akin to drop out.
Webber said Berry's donation is like saying he is isolating himself from state and national GOP leaders.
"Clearly the timing of it, to give him money in light of the comments and encourage people to support him, from my perspective it shows how isolated he is," Webber told The Huffington Post Tuesday. "It really isolates him."
Berry has a history of tweeting conservative viewpoints on a number of issues, including voicing his support for and desire to eat in a Chick-Fil-A, claiming that Democrats want African Americans "enslaved or aborted" and saying that the Obama administration wanted to plant a "microchip" in every American. He also tweeted that he does not consider Roe v. Wade law if people don't consider the Defense of Marriage Act law and claimed that President Barack Obama was "enslaving" the country. He also claimed that the U.S. was engaged in a "civil war."
Today Democrats want blacks enslaved or aborted. So do many of the elites in our most prestigious universities and government.
— Frederick Berry (@berryfs) July 31, 2012
On his campaign website, Berry said that if he is elected he will consider himself a "soldier of the people" and pursue a conservative agenda in Jefferson City. He dismissed Webber, a two-term lawmaker who served two tours as a Marine in Iraq, as a "progressive/ultra liberal" legislator, a charge Webber dismissed saying that his legislative colleagues consider him a moderate.
Webber was quick to condemn Akin's statements. He said that he does not consider them a gaffe, as some have said.
"Not knowing better is a gaffe. He has been in Congress for 12 years and he was articulating what he believes is true," Webber said of Akin. "It is stunning that in the 21st century anyone can be that wrong."
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