CNN Contributor: Akin part of 'theocracy embedded in the GOP'

Journalist LZ Granderson appeared on "CNN News Room" on Tuesday and had a few choice things to say about Missouri Rep. Todd Akin's views on rape and women's rights and how they relate to the views and goals of the Republican Party as a whole. Akin is the congressman running against incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill for U.S. Senate. He famously claimed in a weekend interview that exemptions in abortion law for victims of rape and incest are unnecessary because in cases of "legitimate rape," women's bodies will prevent a pregnancy.

Since the remarks went public, Republican spin doctors have been saturating the airwaves with claims that Akin is an outlier, that his views do not represent the party as a whole. Granderson is having none of it.

"Carol, I have two words for any woman watching this program right now, and that's 'Wake up!'" he told "News Room" anchor Carol Costello, "This isn't just about one person, this isn't about Akin, this isn't a one-off, it isn't a 'misspeak.' This is an agenda, this is an ideal. It's a theocracy that's embedded in the GOP. This is not the first time we've heard something similar to this coming from someone in Congress representing the GOP."

Granderson was countered by conservative Will Cain of Glenn Beck's website, The Blaze. Costello asked Cain to explain the vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)'s connection to H.R. 3, the Republican bill co-sponsored by Akin and Ryan, which sought to restrict rape exemptions in abortion law to victims of "forcible rape," a distinction that Ryan is currently trying to back away from, but which closely echoes Akin's "legitimate rape" comments from Sunday.

Cain responded by attempting to reframe the argument, feigning umbrage that Granderson would even make such charges and calling them "the height of absurdity." "Here's the deal," he began, "Let's bring some clarity to this conversation."

"There is clarity to this conversation," was Granderson retort. "You're backpedaling."

Watch the clip, embedded via CNN, below: