Rick Santorum doubles down with O’Reilly, says he has not been talking a lot about homosexuality. We know better. So do you. Here’s proof.
Rick Santorum, after almost winning the Iowa caucuses, is finding his abysmal record coming back and slapping him in the face. Fox News host Bill O’Reilly last night essentially played on-air coach to Santorum, and Santorum just didn’t get it. For every issue O’Reilly pointed out that Santorum was way out of the mainstream of America, Santorum tired to defend his position rather than learn from the truth-twisting professional, O’Reilly. But when it came to Santorum’s position that he would not only support a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages, but that he would make it retroactive — legally annulling the marriages of hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples — O’Reilly wasn’t having it. Yet, Santorum insisted, saying, “I haven’t been talking a lot about this.”
See for yourself. Visit our Rick Santorum archives, including Rick Santorum’s Top Ten Most-Offensive Anti-Gay Comments.
Watch the latest video at <a href=”http://video.foxnews.com”>video.foxnews.com</a>Igor Volsky at Think Progress offers this transcript:
O’REILLY: To rescind — rescind it after a licenses already given. That’s a big deal.
SANTORUM: The federal government would have to pass a constitutional amendment and if the Constitution says that marriage is between a man and woman, then things that are inconsistent with that would not — would be inconsistent with the Constitution so –
O’REILLY: Would you be doing that if you were elected president? Would you be campaigning for a constitutional amendment in that way?
SANTORUM: I would — well, if you pass a constitutional amendment that says marriage –
O’REILLY: So would you — would that be — would that be in the forefront of your — of your administration?
SANTORUM: As you know, Bill, if you’ve been following me out on the trail, I haven’t been talking a lot about this. Although I strongly believe in it. What I’ve been talking about as I did last night on my acceptance speech where didn’t talk about this issue, I talked about the importance of getting this economy going and talked about my grandfather and coming here for freedom. And this is the fundamental issue in this campaign is whether government is going to be big and obtrusive and telling people how to manage their — their lives or — and are they going to support the basic values of faith and family that allow government to be limited and allow our economy to be strong.
Volsky notes:
Santorum may have failed to mention LGBT issues in every one of his 350 Iowa town halls, but as ThinkProgress has chronicled, he did spend ample time arguing that gay couples “destabilize†society and comparing same-sex relationships to inanimate objects like trees, basketballs, beer, and paper towels and even tried to blame the economic crisis on gay people. As Santorum explained back in August, religious people have a constitutional right to discriminate against gays: “We have a right the Constitution of religious liberty but now the courts have created a super-right that’s above a right that’s actually in the Constitution, and that’s of sexual liberty. And I think that’s a wrong, that’s a destructive element.â€
Santorum is quickly going to learn that the American people are not with him on all the issues near and dear to his heart.
The majority of Americans support same-sex marriage.
The majority of Americans support the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
The majority of Americans don’t believe in demonizing gays, lesbians, and bisexuals.
The majority of Americans support contraception and abortion.
The majority of Americans — and certainly the majority of people in New Hampshire, where the nation’s first primary is next week, actually have found a path to balance their faith (whatever form that may — or may not — take) with being kind and compassionate to their fellow man.
Rick Santorum, who has cloaked himself not in a sweater vest as much as he has in a fraudulent interpretation of faith, has done none of these things.
And America is about to learn who the real Rick Santorum is.