Beckel stresses that he does not deny the occurrence of the violent crime

Feb 22, 2013 09:21 GMT  ·  By

Fox News' co-host Bob Beckel has apologized for his rape comments made on "The Five," reported on yesterday.

In case you have missed it, the video above shows Beckel speaking about a lack of abuse incidents in colleges, during a debate on banning guns on campus.

According to a Department of Justice report they are, in fact, "the most common violent crime on American college campuses today," The Wrap writes.

After prompting a response about this kind of thing usually happening while students are on dates, he reacts by dismissing the victim's right to fighting back.

“But are you going to take a gun out and shoot your date?" he asks.

As he has caused a stir, the self-proclaimed liberal is now trying to clarify that he doesn't dismiss the gravity of the offense.

"Simply put, 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. So, I just want to straighten the record out on that," he stresses.