Kirk Cameron defends Todd Akin on ‘Today’

Kirk Cameron has never been shy about stating his political and religious beliefs, so he’s also not been shy when it comes to controversy. And the former “Growing Pains” star stepped right into a big controversy on Tuesday morning, when he told “Today” show hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb that he believed Missouri GOP Senate candidate Todd Akin to be “a good man.”

Akin has resisted increasingly louder calls from members of his own party to drop out of the race after comments he made over the weekend about pregnancies resulting from rape being “really rare,” and that women’s bodies have a way of shutting down the reproductive process after the trauma of “legitimate rape.”

Cameron, who has refashioned his career in recent years to focus on productions that promote his Christian beliefs, appeared on “Today” to discuss his documentary “Monumental,” about the history of religion in American government.

But talk quickly turned to Akin, who appears in the documentary and who has said he’s not going to drop out of the race in Missouri.

“I’m not his political strategist, thank God,” Cameron said. He told the hosts that he watched the video of Akin’s comments and came away with the understanding that “this is a man who is advocating the sanctity of life through and through. He said he misspoke, and he apologized for it. I like to evaluate people based on their entire life, their entire career, all they stand for.”

He went on to say, “I believe he’s a good man. He’s now in a very, very difficult spot.”

Cameron found himself in a controversy of his own making earlier this year, when comments he made criticizing homosexuality came under fire and he went on Fox News and “Today” to defend himself and the comments.

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Join Patrick Kevin Day on Google+ or Twitter. Email: patrick.day@latimes.com

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