Over the last week, former Republican Rep. Rick Santorum has come under fire for making controversial comments about the students of Parkland, Florida who survived the recent school shooting. While trying to clarify his position, as well as defend Donald Trump, Santorum found himself in another uncomfortable position.
(CNN and Santorum on gun control remarks)
Santorum defends Trump
For the last month, two of the biggest headlines in politics have been the aftermath of the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, as well as the scandal involving Donald Trump and his alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels.
During the March 28 edition of "New Day" on CNN, host Chris Cuomo pressed Rick Santorum, a conservative Christian, on why the religious right have been so forgiving of Trump despite his behavior and allegations of infidelity and sexual misconduct. "I think every Christian understands that we are all sinners and that we all make mistakes," Santorum said.
Former Sen. Rick Santorum says Christians on the right look at how someone elected to hold office, like President Trump, behaves on the issues that person was elected to deal with. pic.twitter.com/CAN8ePxYgm
— New Day (@NewDay) March 28, 2018
"You were in there (Congress) during the Clinton years. This was not what was being said by this voting bloc then.
This was not said by you back then," Chris Cuomo noted, adding, "You called for Clinton to resign." Rick Santorum struggled to defend himself as Cuomo made it clear that the religious right was acting with hypocrisy when it comes to their defense of Donald Trump compared to years past.
Santorum on gun control
On the issue of gun control, Rick Santorum faced criticism last week when he dismissed the idea of reform, and instead suggested the students at Parkland and around the country learn "CPR" instead.
During his interview with Chris Cuomo, Santorum ran into a metaphorical buzz-saw when he was asked about the issue of gun control and his "CPR" remarks to the Parkland school shooting survivors. "The fact of the matter is I did misspeak in using the term CPR," Santorum admitted. Santorum claimed conservatives want to have an open debate with the students, which led to Cuomo explaining why that has been unable to happen.
"We actually can’t because we are distracted by all of these efforts of attacking the kids," Chris Cuomo said, citing recent right-wing efforts "saying they didn’t go to the school, likening them to Nazis, making fun of young women, lying about what they do." In an attempt to cover himself, Santorum said he "condemned" those remarks, claiming, "There’s politics and hypocrisy on both sides of the debate."
