'There is a sickness out there in the Republican party,' said Boxer. Boxer: Maybe GOP dislikes mothers

Sen. Barbara Boxer said Tuesday that a President Mitt Romney and Vice President Paul Ryan would be the “top generals” in “a war against women,” and that Republicans want to restrict women’s rights because “maybe they don’t like their moms or their first wives.”

“There is a war against women, and Romney and Ryan — if they are elected — would become its top generals,” she said during a speech at a Planned Parenthood event in San Jose, the San Jose Mercury News reports.


The California Democrat also said Rep. Todd Akin’s comment that “legitimate rape” rarely leads to pregnancy is “a direct outgrowth of the GOP’s march to the right on women’s health.”

“Where’s the outrage by Mitt Romney?” she said. “There is a sickness out there in the Republican party, and I’m not kidding. Maybe they don’t like their moms or their first wives; I don’t know what it is.”

When asked by the Mercury News to respond to Boxer’s comments, the Romney campaign referenced a statement issued earlier Tuesday.

“As I said yesterday, Todd Akin’s comments were offensive and wrong and he should very seriously consider what course would be in the best interest of our country. Today, his fellow Missourians urged him to step aside, and I think he should accept their counsel and exit the Senate race,” the statement read.