Fox News political commentator Bob Beckel sparked a whirlwind of controversy on Tuesday when he flat out said that rape is not a problem on college campuses and that date rape is not as bad as being raped by a stranger, reports the Daily Mail. The comment was made while a panel on The Five was discussing a proposed Colorado legislation that would allow women to carry concealed weapons to prevent sexual assaults at colleges.
“When’s the last time you hear about rape on a college campus?” the ill-informed 64-year-old political analyst asked.
Beckel refused to back down as the other commentators at the roundtable disputed his position. Former George W. Bush press secretary Dana Perino argued that date rape is especially common on college campuses.
“Yes, date rape, that’s one problem, but you gonna take a gun out and shoot your date?”
“If your date is a rapist, you shoot them,” Fox News contributor Kimberly Guilfoyle replied.
According to New York University, one out of every five women is raped during their college years.
The co-host received criticism after making the remarks.
So, Bob Beckel doesn’t think date rape is rape. I guess Dems are okay with this because he’s one of them. –> twitchy.com/2013/02/19/cre…
— Ken Gardner (@kesgardner) February 20, 2013
Dear Bob Beckel: Once your date decides to rape you, I’m pretty sure it’s no longer a date (maybe never was). Just sayin’. Love, The Diva
— divadoll123 (@divadoll123) February 20, 2013
It’s absolutely incredible Bob Beckel is still allowed on television: twitchy.com/2013/02/19/cre…
— AG (@AG_Conservative) February 20, 2013
After receiving so much criticism, Beckel apologized for his comments on The Five, saying that “rape is rape.”
And it’s simply put, this, rape is rape, whether it’s date rape or it’s somebody coming in off the campus trying to rape somebody else. I very strongly feel that way. And so, I just want to straighten the record out on that. I simply was trying to make — there was not a distinction to make here. It simply was that date rape is rape. And that is, by ay other definition, rape is rape.