Missouri Republican and Senate hopeful Rep. Todd Akin compared his Democratic opponent, incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill, to a dog who plays "fetch" for higher taxes and regulations from Washington and brings them back to Missouri.

"She goes to Washington, D.C. and it's a little bit like one of those dogs, you know 'fetch,' and she goes to Washington, D.C. and gets all of these taxes and red tape and bureaucracy and executive orders and agencies and she brings all of this stuff and dumps it on us in Missouri," Akin said Saturday at a fund-raiser in Springfield, Missouri.

Audio of the GOP Senate candidate was posted to PoliticMo.com on Saturday.

Akin spokesman Rick Tyler later followed up with a tweet on Monday: "If Claire McCaskill were a dog, she'd be a 'Bullshitsu'"

Asked about the congressman's comments and tweet, Tyler said Akin was using an "analogy," and contrasted it with his post on Twitter, which he said was a "joke."

"It seems to me she's got it just backwards," Akin said at the event, featuring former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee -- one of few conservatives who stood by the Republican candidate following his controversial comments on "legitimate rape."

Akin continued: "What she should be doing is taking the common sense that we see in Missouri and taking that to Washington, D.C. and blessing them with some solutions instead of more problems."

In August, the social conservative congressman claimed in a television interview that "legitimate rape" rarely resulted in pregnancy, saying that "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

Soon after, Akin sought to clarify his remarks, saying that he misspoke and apologizing repeatedly as the political uproar from both sides of the aisle intensified.

Akin's comments quickly drew national attention, sparking many Republicans, including GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, to call on Akin to drop out of the race as well as fund-raising organizations to pull money from his campaign.

Republicans are battling Democrats for control of the upper chamber in November's election. Akin's potentially damaging remarks could put that effort at risk.

More recently, following the candidates' first debate in September, Akin said McCaskill was more "ladylike" in her 2006 election than she is this time around -- evidence, Akin said, that indicated she was nervous about remaining in office.