Sensitive Politician Told Rape Victim She Had "Buyer's Remorse"

It’s hard to keep track of the asshattery of this year’s Republican candidates, so we’ll refresh your memory: Ken Buck said to vote for him because he doesn’t wear high heels. He’s also hard-line anti-choice, and terrible to rape victims.

The Colorado Independent is doing a three part series on Buck’s positions as they relate to women, and it’s not pretty.

The latest revelation is Buck’s conduct in a sexual assault case five years ago, when he was district attorney:

The alleged assault occurred five years ago. A man entered the alleged victim’s apartment and had sex with her while she was drunk, she says. As she passed in and out of consciousness, she says she told him “no” and tried to push him away. If he had been a stranger, the case may have played out differently, but he was a former lover, and she had invited him over.

The victim happened to have been an advocate for sexual assault survivors. She said the police recommended felony charges, which is backed up by the police report but not by the police department itself. And she recorded a conversation between Buck and her, in which he put forward his position in a rather callous fashion, to say the least.

He told a Colorado paper, “A jury could very well conclude that this is a case of buyer’s remorse,” and said the facts were “pitiful.” Even if you give Buck the benefit of the doubt and consider that he may have been, in the meeting and elsewhere, earnestly speaking for a jury that he believed would never convict based on the evidence, there is more than enough evidence of his contempt for women.

Exhibit A: He supports the Fetal Personhood Amendment, which would give fertilized eggs full legal rights, with no exception for rape and incest and serious implications for the rights of pregnant women, not to mention in vitro fertilization and stem cell research. He opposes abortion in all cases except to save the life of the mother. Oh, and its advocates ran a radio ad with an actor playing a “slave” comparing abortion to slavery.

As of last week, Buck is leading in the polls over Democrat Michael Bennet, but trailing among women voters. So, well, don’t forget to vote, women of Colorado!

Buck’s Refusal To Prosecute 2005 Rape Case Reverberates In U.S. Senate Race [Colorado Independent]
Women Have Yet To Catch Buck’s Wave [Greeley Independent]

Earlier: Senate Candidate Is Not Man Enough, But At Least He’s Not Wearing Heels