Rick Santorum says asking Trump to condemn right-wing extremists is unfair because they're his base

The Republican former Sen. Rick Santorum said that asking President Donald Trump to denounce white supremacists was a low blow because they were his voter base.

In Tuesday night's presidential debate, the moderator, Chris Wallace, asked Trump to denounce racism and right-wing militias.

Santorum later told CNN that Wallace "was asking the president to do something he knows the president doesn't like to do."

Asked to elaborate, Santorum said: "Which is say something bad about people who support him ... talking about the white supremacists."

During the debate Trump had answered Wallace's question by telling the extremist Proud Boys group to "stand back and stand by."

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Republican former Sen. Rick Santorum said that asking President Donald Trump to condemn right-wing extremists during Tuesday night's debate with Joe Biden was unfair because it meant alienating Trump's supporters.

Santorum, who in 2012 lost out to Mitt Romney as the Republican nominee for president, appeared on CNN and suggested the debate moderator Chris Wallace set Trump up.

"The Democrats owe a lot to Chris Wallace," Santorum said. "He asked two questions, where he was asking the president to do something he knows the president doesn't like to do."

Asked to elaborate, Santorum said: "Which is say something bad about people who support him. Right?"

"Talking about the white supremacists, number one."

Wallace had asked Trump whether he would condemn right-wing extremism, prompting an exchange in which all three participants talked over one another and Biden ultimately mentioned the Proud Boys group.

Rather than explicitly condemn the group, which the Southern Poverty Law Center considers a hate group, Trump said its members should "stand back and stand by."

Santorum did tell CNN, however, that he thought Biden edged Trump in the overall debate.

"I don't think it worked for him tonight," he said of Trump, adding: "I think he came out way too hot."

Comments

Biden says K-12 education isn't working — calls for free pre-K to "grade 14"

President Joe Biden on Wednesday praised the nation's K-12 education system for fueling America's economic growth for almost a century. But, he stressed, that system may no longer be sufficient as the foundation for future prosperity. Mr. Biden's American Families Plan is taking aim at an issue that has bedeviled economists as well as millions of families struggling to stay afloat financially: A high school diploma is no longer enough to secure a middle-class life. Under the White House proposal, the nation's K-12 system would be expanded on both ends — from free pre-kindergarten education through a "grade 14," funding two years of schooling before kindergarten and two years of post-high school education through free community college. There's plenty of economic research that links rising high school graduation rates throughout the 20th century to faster U.S. economic growth. For example, broadening education help women enter the workforce and enabled men ...

New climate envoy John Kerry sold off energy holdings to avoid conflict of interest, disclosures show

Financial disclosures released by former Secretary of State John Kerry indicate that until March of this year he held hundreds of thousands of dollars of investments in energy-related companies that may end up being affected by policies he'll help shape as President Joe Biden's new climate envoy. An ABC News analysis of his assets show that in recent years, Kerry held stakes in at least three dozen companies related to the energy industry, including firms dealing in electric, oil and gas, and nuclear energy, with shares worth between $204,000 and $960,000. Kerry had also recently held high-ranking positions within firms and entities that could end up being regulated by his climate action policies, filings show. A certificate of divestiture issued by the Office of Government Ethics on March 8 shows Kerry's plan to divest from companies that could pose a conflict of interest for his new role as U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, a common measure that newly appointed...

GOP Congressman Skips COVID-19 Relief Vote To Speak At White Nationalist Rally

Rep. Paul Gosar, a Republican from Arizona, spoke Friday night at a far-right extremist rally organized by white nationalist figurehead Nick Fuentes while his colleagues in the House passed a massive coronavirus relief package. Gosar, who has served in Congress for more than a decade, submitted a request to vote by proxy due to the threat of the pandemic. Yet instead of staying home, he traveled to Orlando, Florida, where he served as a surprise headliner at the America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC) alongside Steve King, the white nationalist former congressman from Iowa. The coronavirus aid passed the House with no Republican support and is now under consideration in the Senate. Fuentes, the main AFPAC organizer, attended both the deadly 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the U.S. Capitol riot of this year, although he claims he did not storm the building. His extremist event was held not far from the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conferenc...

Politics Now - USA

Search This Blog