Bob Beckel stunned his own co-hosts when he suggested that rape does not happen on college campuses during Tuesday's "The Five." (UPDATE: Beckel addressed the comments on Wednesday. Scroll down for more information.)
The Fox News roundtable was debating Colorado legislation that would allow women to carry concealed weapons to prevent sexual assault at colleges. Beckel was skeptical, and asked, "When's the last time you heard about rape on a college campus?"
"What?!" Kimberly Guilfoyle reacted.
"What are you talking about?" an indignant Eric Bolling said. "It's rampant."
"Oh, it's rampant?" Beckel asked. "Rapes on campus?!" Bolling responded. "Where?" Beckel wanted to know.
"In particular, date rape on campus," Dana Perino added.
"Yea, date rape, that's one problem," Beckel conceded, "but you gonna take a gun out and shoot your date?"
An estimated 20%-25% of women reported experiencing an attempted or a completed rape during college, according to the Center For Disease Control. New York University's statistics about rape on campuses also report that one in five women were raped during their college years.
Beckel is no stranger to making controversial statements on air. Earlier this month, he referred to the appearance of his eyes as "Oriental," and was quickly reprimanded by co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle. He has also dropped the f-bomb numerous timeson "The Five."
It's also far from the first time a Fox News pundit has gotten into trouble because of comments about rape. In 2012, commentator Liz Trotta caused outrage after she said of women who get raped in the military, "What do they expect?"
UPDATE: On Wednesday, Beckel addressed his comments, without tackling the central problem people had with them: that he appeared to be denying the very existence of college rape. Instead, he said he wished to make clear that there was no distinction between date rape and any other kind of rape. "Rape is rape," he said.
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