Former Republican <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/pennsylvania" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pennsylvania</a> Senator and presidential candidate <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/rick-santorum" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rick Santorum</a> said that Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman will be unable to represent the Keystone State because of his significant cognitive challenges.
Fetterman, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-top-democrat-in-u-s-senate-race-in-pennsylvania-hospitalized-after-suffering-stroke" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suffered a stroke</a> days before the primary election, faltered and provided noticeably choppy responses during the contest’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/confident-oz-and-struggling-fetterman-clash-in-pennsylvania-senate-debate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only debate</a> as Republican rival <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mehmet-oz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Mehmet Oz</a> pressed the Democrat on his progressive platform. Santorum, who spent two terms in the House of Representatives and two terms in the Senate, remarked in an interview with The Daily Wire that serving in the upper chamber demands significant persuasive and cognitive skill.
“A senator does more than just votes. In fact, we spent very little time casting votes. We spent a lot of time working on issues, providing leadership on a variety of fronts,” he commented. “Most senators are involved in areas where they provide leadership, whether internationally working with other countries, working with organizations, or for particular causes. You have cachet as a senator, and most senators are capable of using that cachet to have an influence, to improve your country and to fight for the interests of your state. If you don&#8217;t have the ability to communicate, that becomes nearly impossible.”
Fetterman had a number of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-fetterman-yells-at-oz-during-closing-statements" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noticeable outbursts</a> and moments of frustration during his debate as moderators posed questions on his agenda and record. “You saw how he responded to stress at that debate: not well. You don&#8217;t put someone in there who&#8217;s incapacitated to do the job that you&#8217;re asking him to do,” Santorum added. “On top of that, here&#8217;s a man with a defibrillator. Here’s a man with a pacemaker. Here’s a man who has AFib and who is, by all measures, a ticking time bomb for another stroke sometime soon.”
Gisele Barreto Fetterman, the wife of John Fetterman, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ableist-toward-the-disability-community-john-fettermans-wife-tells-nbc-to-apologize-for-asking-about-his-stroke" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rebuked</a> an NBC News journalist who reported on his cognitive issues by calling for “some accountability” and labeling her “ableist.” Santorum rejected the notion that observing the nominee’s evident cognitive decline is bigoted.
“There&#8217;s a whole host of things that a senator does, but it requires competency. It requires being able to communicate, being able to effectively formulate ideas and present those ideas in ways that are persuasive,” Santorum continued. “Greg Abbott, for example, he&#8217;s paralyzed, but he can do the job. So it&#8217;s not a matter of ableism. It&#8217;s a matter of having the necessary skills to do the job which you&#8217;re being asked to do, and he doesn&#8217;t have that, any more than you would hire a plumber who&#8217;s paralyzed from the neck down.”
Economic issues are the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-midterm-poll-spells-bad-news-for-democrats-on-the-economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most pressing</a> for voters nationwide as supply chain bottlenecks, labor shortages, and government spending worsen inflationary pressures. Santorum noted that Fetterman and other Pennsylvania Democrats must express support for fracking in order to win office in the energy-rich state.
“The Republicans have controlled the legislature there for a long time, and as a result have made sure that energy production went forward in Pennsylvania, even in the face of Democratic governors,” he noted. “Almost all of the trade unions in Pennsylvania now align with the Republicans more than the Democrats because it&#8217;s a jobs issue. And this is a huge producer of union jobs, all throughout the commonwealth.”
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat completing his final term in office, enacted a second round of lockdowns that began weeks before the holiday season of 2020, dealing a fresh blow to the commonwealth’s businesses. Although economic fallout from the aggressive policies may influence voters, Santorum expects that suburban mothers impacted by school closures will bring their concerns to the polls.
Santorum, however, has also noticed that abortion policy is more salient in Pennsylvania than in other states. “One of the things that I&#8217;ve noticed in the polling in Pennsylvania is the abortion issue shows up higher,” he commented. “Because of the Dobbs decision, particularly among southeastern Pennsylvania suburban voters, I think it&#8217;s one of the reasons that Fetterman has held on. It&#8217;s one of the reasons that Democrats jumped on Oz&#8217;s answer about abortion during the debate, because they understand Pennsylvania, and particularly some of these key congressional district races out in the southeast.”
Although the race between Oz and Fetterman has generated significant media attention as the two major parties seek control of the Senate, the gubernatorial contest between Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Republican State Senator Doug Mastriano has made headlines as many outlets paint the latter candidate as a representative of “Christian nationalism.” Santorum said that despite his strong grassroots support, Mastriano’s relatively low degree of experience has enabled progressive reporters to caricature him.
“He&#8217;s a first term state senator who&#8217;s a long-term military guy. He&#8217;s a novice, he&#8217;s not a politician at all, and doesn&#8217;t understand it. Talking to reporters, he doesn&#8217;t trust them,” Santorum said. “And he&#8217;s in a situation where he&#8217;s sort of running a ghetto campaign without any money, and so they&#8217;re able to go out there and paint a picture without any pushback.”
Much reporting on Mastriano has been disingenuous, according to Santorum, because beltway journalists do not understand his values, while suburbanites in southeastern Pennsylvania are easily “spooked” by his persona. “He really is sort of a blue-collar guy who is very devout. He loves the country and he loves the Lord. So he&#8217;s an easy guy to caricature. How many people in the national media or the Democratic Party have faith as a huge part of their lives?” Santorum continued. “When they see someone like this, they’re the ‘other.’ It’s so funny how the Left always talks about how conservatives look at people as the ‘other’ while they look at Christians as ‘other.’ It&#8217;s very easy to caricature someone like him because of his strong faith.”
Mastriano has received <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrat-governor-candidate-breaks-pennsylvanias-campaign-spending-record-republican-spends-less-than-10-as-much" target="_blank" rel="noopener">little support</a> from establishment Republicans even as Shapiro broke the commonwealth’s gubernatorial campaign spending record. The dynamic may lead conservative voters to reject Oz, particularly in rural portions of the state, according to Santorum.
“There&#8217;s a lot of people who are not happy with the national party, the Republican Governors Association. Everybody else has sort of turned their back on him and have supported Oz, who as you saw from the debate is certainly not a conservative,” Santorum remarked. “That could have an impact on Oz’s turnout in the sense that there could be some out there who were upset about how Mastriano was treated. Whether it&#8217;s large numbers or not, I can&#8217;t say. But I think there will be some interesting under-votes: the rural areas under-voting for Oz, the urban areas under-voting for Fetterman.”

Fox News Sponsors Republican Presidential Candidate Debate Ahead Of Iowa Caucuses

‘It Requires Competency’: Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum On Whether John Fetterman Can Do The Job With Serious Health Issues

Rick Santorum Discusses Pennsylvania Midterms, Concerns About Fetterman's Health

2022 Midterms

Elections

Mehmet Oz

Pennsylvania

Politics

Rick Santorum

Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, who was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cnn-fires-rick-santorum-after-he-claimed-founding-fathers-birthed-a-nation-from-nothing">ousted</a> from his role as a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rick-santorums-firing-proves-cnn-doesnt-want-to-hear-anyone-who-sounds-like-you">CNN commentator</a> after saying the Founding Fathers “birthed a nation from nothing,” has been hired by the conservative media outlet <a href="https://www.newsmax.com/us/rick-santorum-election-analyst-election-coverage/2021/11/02/id/1042959/">Newsmax</a> as a senior political analyst.
When viewers of the conservative news network tuned in to catch the results of the Virginia governor’s election, they saw the former Pennsylvania Republican senator breaking down the vote with his fellow commentators.
“Rick Santorum is one of the most articulate and candid political analysts in media today, and we are honored to have him leading Newsmax&#8217;s team of commentators Tuesday and beyond,” said Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy.
“I am looking forward to bringing my common-sense, blue-collar conservative voice to Newsmax and their viewers as we turn toward the critical 2022 midterm elections and beyond,” said Santorum.
The senator’s return to television represents a reversal of CNN’s attempt to cancel him over his remarks at an event on April 23, when he credited the formation of the United States to its founders.
America’s citizens “came here, mostly from Europe, and they set up a country that was based on Judeo-Christian principles,” he said. “Yes, we have Native Americans, but candidly there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture.”
Some of his critics accused him of minimizing the suffering of American Indian tribes, even comparing him to a Holocaust denier.
“The way we treated Native Americans was horrific. It goes against every bone and everything I’ve ever fought for,” Santorum said on his final network appearance on May 3.
He also clarified that he “misspoke,” because he did not make it clear that “I was talking about the founding, and the principles embodied in the founding,” such as “the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence” had little influence from American Indian culture. After the senator’s May 3 appearance on “Cuomo Prime Time,” CNN’s Don Lemon said, “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/don-lemon-contradicts-1619-project-europeans-did-not-found-this-country">Europeans did not found this country</a>.”
Santorum’s refusal to apologize or backtrack on the Western origins of the U.S. Constitution cost him his job.
“After that appearance, it was pretty clear we couldn’t use him again,” a CNN producer told HuffPost. His firing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rick-santorums-firing-proves-cnn-doesnt-want-to-hear-anyone-who-sounds-like-you">left CNN without virtually any Republican commentator</a> who hadn&#8217;t endorsed Joe Biden.
Later in the month, Santorum hit back at his old network’s embrace of cancel culture. “[A]ppreciate the opportunity that they gave me, but it shows that the Left is intolerant,” he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rick-santorum-speaks-out-about-cnn-firing-discusses-cancel-culture-hitting-network">told</a> “Hannity” in May. “And the intolerance of the Left is the issue in the cancel culture that is flowing from it.”
Santorum’s acceptance at Newsmax was seemingly predicted by one of his former CNN colleagues, W. Kamau Bell, the host of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cnn-host-praises-antifa-violence-yes-people-get-hurt">United Shades of America</a>.” Bell mockingly <a href="https://twitter.com/wkamaubell/status/1396200563725930498">tweeted</a>: “See you on @newsmax! Just kidding, @RickSantorum. I don’t watch Newsmax.”
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See you on <a href="https://twitter.com/NEWSMAX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@newsmax</a>!*
*Just kidding, <a href="https://twitter.com/RickSantorum?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RickSantorum</a>. I don’t watch Newsmax.😁<a href="https://t.co/AHpbZkwe2y">https://t.co/AHpbZkwe2y</a>
&mdash; W. Kamau Bell (@wkamaubell) <a href="https://twitter.com/wkamaubell/status/1396200563725930498?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2021</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I am excited to join the growing team at Newsmax,&#8221; said Santorum on Tuesday night. &#8220;In just a short time, Newsmax has exponentially grown its viewership, establishing itself as a leading, unfiltered news source for hard working Americans who are looking for reporting and commentary that speaks to their traditional American values.”
Santorum spent 16 years in Washington, D.C.: two terms as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania (1991-1995), followed by two terms in the U.S. Senate (1995-2007). Santorum succeeded as a Republican in an overwhelmingly Democratic House district before defeating incumbent Democratic Senator Harris Wofford in 1994. He lost the seat in 2006 to Senator Bob Casey Jr., who campaigned as a “pro-life Democrat.” Santorum won 11 primaries in the 2012 Republican presidential race and ran again for the nomination in 2016.
In addition to a strong pro-life, pro-family voting record, Santorum became known as a “blue collar conservative” with a penchant for supporting union causes. He also distinguished himself as an advocate for an interventionist foreign policy.
The announcement of Santorum’s new position as a Newsmax commentator came just four days after the senator’s daughter, Elizabeth, adopted his <a href="https://twitter.com/RickSantorum/status/1454092944324112391">first grandchild</a>.
Related: 
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cnn-fires-rick-santorum-after-he-claimed-founding-fathers-birthed-a-nation-from-nothing">CNN Fires Rick Santorum After He Claimed Founding Fathers ‘Birthed A Nation From Nothing’</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rick-santorums-firing-proves-cnn-doesnt-want-to-hear-anyone-who-sounds-like-you">OPINION: CNN Doesn’t Want To Hear Anyone Who Sounds Like You</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rick-santorum-speaks-out-about-cnn-firing-discusses-cancel-culture-hitting-network">Rick Santorum Speaks Out About CNN Firing, Discusses Cancel Culture Hitting Network</a></li>
</ul>
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Update: This story has been updated to reflect the fact that Rick Santorum&#8217;s daughter, Elizabeth, adopted the senator&#8217;s grandchild rather than &#8220;gave birth&#8221; to the child. We regret the error.

U.S. Senate Back In Session On Capitol Hill

Uncancelled: Rick Santorum Hired By Newsmax

Cancel Culture

Former Republican senator and conservative commentator Rick Santorum spoke out on Monday after he was fired from his position at CNN over the weekend. 
&#8220;CNN has a right to fire me if they don’t like what I’m saying or what they are doing,&#8221; Santorum <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/rick-santorum-cnn-fired-native-american-culture">said</a> during an appearance on Fox News&#8217;s &#8220;Hannity&#8221; Monday night.
&#8220;I have no animus; I appreciate the opportunity that they gave me, but it shows that the Left is intolerant. They are worried; I’m sure that their viewership which is very Left was going to pay a price. And the intolerance of the Left is the issue in the cancel culture that is flowing from it. And I hear from a lot of liberals in fact many CNN contributors who talked to me afterward who were very, very concerned about the cancel culture that is now hitting them at CNN,&#8221; he said.
As The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cnn-fires-rick-santorum-after-he-claimed-founding-fathers-birthed-a-nation-from-nothing">reported</a>, the former GOP presidential candidate made the network’s audience angry over comments he made to Young America’s Foundation on April 23. 
When the Pilgrims arrived in 1620, “There was nothing here,” he said. “Yes, we have Native Americans, but candidly there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture.” The Founding Fathers “came here, mostly from Europe, and they set up a country that was based on Judeo-Christian principles,” Santorum said. 
HuffPost <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rick-santorum-cnn-native-americans_n_60a92fa6e4b0313547978140">announced</a> Santorum’s termination on Saturday afternoon. A CNN senior executive anonymously told the outlet that CNN decided to fire Santorum after he appeared on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time.” 
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&quot;I wanted to give you a chance to explain yourself, because that&#39;s what this show is about.&quot;
Tonight <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisCuomo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChrisCuomo</a> asked Rick Santorum about Santorum&#39;s widely-condemned comments on Native American culture – here&#39;s the entire clip <a href="https://t.co/yXZeIsGnpd">pic.twitter.com/yXZeIsGnpd</a>
&mdash; Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianstelter/status/1389395080688152576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2021</a></blockquote>
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“Leadership wasn’t particularly satisfied with that appearance. None of the anchors wanted to book him,” said the executive. “So he was essentially benched anyway.” 
During the Cuomo program, Santorum was <a href="https://twitter.com/brianstelter/status/1389395080688152576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1389395080688152576%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https://www.dailywire.com/news/cnn-fires-rick-santorum-after-he-claimed-founding-fathers-birthed-a-nation-from-nothing">asked</a> about his commentary in the speech. “I misspoke in this respect,” he clarified. “I was talking about the founding, and the principles embodied in the founding,” such as “the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.” 
He added, “People have said, ‘Oh, I’m trying to dismiss what we did to the Native Americans.’ Far from it! The way we treated Native Americans was horrific. It goes against every bone and everything I’ve ever fought for, as a leader, in the Congress.” 
Santorum stated that he is against treating people as “other” or “less than human,” adding that he believes people are guilty of doing so with regard to unborn children today.
Host Chris Cuomo criticized Santorum and the Republican Party, saying that he has “done this with homosexuality, comparing it to bestiality … this is a continuation of an ‘us’ and a ‘them.’”
Santorum responded, saying that “the beautiful thing about the imperfect people that put together our founding documents, they put together a pretty perfect saying which is ‘all men are created equal and endowed by and created with rights.’” 
He added, “There are people who look at people as ‘other’ [and] look at people as ‘less than’ and that is despicable, disgusting.”
He went on to say, “I don’t think we want to conflate disagreements about public policy issues…and how we treat people as individuals. I think we can treat people with respect and dignity and disagree with them on very important issues like abortion, or like marriage … Just because I disagree with someone on the issue of marriage doesn’t mean I hate them or see them as less than, and I think that’s what I get accused of and that’s wrong.”
“I think after that appearance, it was pretty clear we couldn’t use him again,” the executive told Huffpost.
Santorum <a href="https://twitter.com/RickSantorum/status/1396295675608981508?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet">tweeted</a> late Saturday night, “When I signed on with CNN, I understood I would be providing commentary that is not regularly heard by the typical CNN viewer. I appreciate the opportunity CNN provided me over the past 4 years. I am committed to continuing the fight for our conservative principles and values.”
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When I signed on with CNN, I understood I would be providing commentary that is not regularly heard by the typical CNN viewer. I appreciate the opportunity CNN provided me over the past 4 years. I am committed to continuing the fight for our conservative principles and values.
&mdash; Rick Santorum (@RickSantorum) <a href="https://twitter.com/RickSantorum/status/1396295675608981508?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/media/555355-santorum-blames-cancel-culture-for-cnn-firing?rl=1">reported</a> that at a virtual town hall on Tuesday, CNN President Jeff Zucker addressed Santorum&#8217;s firing.
&#8220;He was an important voice for the past five years,&#8221; Zucker said during the event <a href="https://twitter.com/jeremymbarr/status/1397251829336006668">according to reporter Jeremy Barr at The Washington Post</a>. &#8220;But his recent comments were inappropriate and racist.&#8221;

52EDDE25-5BCB-4378-BAE8-2471E0C52EE1_1_201_a

Rick Santorum Speaks Out About CNN Firing, Discusses Cancel Culture Hitting Network

CNN quietly let the word leak that it had fired conservative commentator Rick Santorum over the weekend, but its personnel decision sent another message loud and clear: The network doesn’t want to hear from anyone who doesn’t share its anchors’ elitist worldview.
Santorum represented one of the last remaining voices of divergence and dissent at the nation’s third-most-popular cable news network — and that was one too many.
To those with eyes to see, the former U.S. senator’s firing looked inevitable. CNN’s viewers had long targeted the conservative Catholic for his outspoken defense of life, marriage, strong borders, and faith. “Santorum was long a lightning rod at CNN,” <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/22/media/rick-santorum-cnn-departure-native-american-criticism/index.html">admitted</a> Brian Stelter, the host of CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” when the network finally reported the termination.
Santorum’s firing represents the legacy media’s decision to renege on their brief, shining moment of clarity: They’re completely out of touch with the average American.
After the 2016 election shocked the media — who are based almost exclusively in Washington and New York — its executives promised to go on reconnaissance in the heartland. A series of pundits and prognosticators said they had become estranged from everyone outside their bubble and vowed to get to know the people again. “If I have a mea culpa for journalists and journalism, it’s that we’ve got to do a much better job of being on the road, out in the country, talking to different kinds of people than the people we talk to … and remind ourselves that New York is not the real world,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/10/business/media/news-outlets-wonder-where-the-predictions-went-wrong.html">said</a> Dean Baquet, an editor at the New York Times.
To that end, a few outlets promised to feature more conservative voices on the air. In 2017, Rick Santorum joined CNN. Who better to <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2017/01/17/rick-santorum-hired-by-cnn">interpret</a> Outside-the-Beltway America to the media than Rick Santorum, a two-time U.S. senator from the swing state of Pennsylvania, whose <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Collar-Conservatives-Recommitting-America/dp/1482997452">blue-collar brand of conservatism</a> provided much of the policy <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/2016/11/25/donald-trump-presidential-campaign-521145.html">embraced</a> by Donald Trump in 2016?
Perhaps this would be the first stage of those “national conversations” the Left are always inviting us to have?
Instead, the legacy media embraced its role as the PR engine of the #Resistance. That meant wall-to-wall coverage of the Russian dossier, baseless insistence that the election had been stolen through “collusion” with a foreign power, and vapid assurances that “the walls are closing in” on Donald Trump. Anyone who disagreed with their agenda likely took his walking orders from the Kremlin.
After making a commitment to understand grassroots voters, CNN progressively <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/22/media/rick-santorum-cnn-departure-native-american-criticism/index.html">shed</a> conservative commentators Jeffrey Lord, Paris Dennard, and Jason Miller. Ed Martin lasted just <a href="https://thehill.com/media/369685-trump-supporter-ed-martin-out-at-cnn-after-4-month-stint">four months</a>. Upon hearing the news, his fellow Republican CNN pundit, Ana Navarro, <a href="https://twitter.com/ananavarro/status/954159634612412416">tweeted</a>, “Bye. Fe-Li-Cia.”
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Bye. Fe-Li-Cia. 👋🏻👋🏼👋🏽👋🏾 <a href="https://t.co/Ttw24R04p1">https://t.co/Ttw24R04p1</a>
&mdash; Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) <a href="https://twitter.com/ananavarro/status/954159634612412416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Santorum’s real sin was that he made the network look as elitist, misguided, and fact-challenged as it is. He regularly won the debate while outnumbered three-to-one as the network’s token conservative. He once made Chris Cuomo <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2019/05/07/pro-abortion-cnn-contributor-insanely-claims-unborn-babies-arent-even-human/">disagree</a> with the notion that an unborn child in the womb “is human and alive.” The network tried to settle the score by <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/11/20/rick-santorum-carrie-cordero-trump-impeachment-hearings-ac360-vpx.cnn">posting</a> his fellow panelists’ angry retorts and personal insults. Viewers <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/liberal-cnn-viewers-complain-network-allowed-rick-santorum-to-compliment-trump-on-coronavirus">blanched</a> if he gave President Trump credit for any of his achievements.
Santorum’s success so infuriated viewers that even token representation of dissent proved too much. Punishing him for his off-the-cuff remarks at a speech, while letting its own guests and hosts indict 74 million Americans as potential domestic terrorists, should give up the game: From now on, CNN purges dissenting voices.
Santorum’s ouster leaves CNN with significantly less intellectual diversity. “CNN has scores of paid contributors who bring point of view and insight in many different fields,” wrote Stelter.
But CNN’s guests all repeat the exact same talking points.
Many of CNN’s remaining Republican commentators <a href="https://freebeacon.com/media/nearly-half-of-cnns-republican-commentators-are-voting-for-biden/">endorsed</a> Joe Biden before the 2020 election, including Ana Navarro, John Kasich, Charlie Dent, Amanda Carpenter, S.E. Cupp, and Miles Taylor.
Getting rid of Rick Santorum shows that CNN plans to traverse the full expanse of the ideological spectrum between <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/09/13/how_could_obama_have_hired_van_jones_98293.html">former Maoists</a> (like the aforementioned <a href="https://therightswriter.com/2009/09/conspiracy-czar/">Van Jones</a>) to Republicans willing to agree that the current GOP is the <a href="https://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/reagan-evil-empire-speech-text/">focus</a> of evil in the modern world.
Ironically, CNN fired Santorum for his political beliefs after it spent the last three weeks <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cnn-talked-about-liz-cheney-four-times-more-than-the-israel-hamas-conflict">obsessing</a> over Liz Cheney’s removal from her House Republican leadership post, a move its anchors equated with a near-fascist aversion to ideological dissent.
“It&#8217;s clear that the current Republican Party seems to have no room at this point for anyone who speaks out,” <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/2105/03/nday.03.html">groused </a>John Berman on May 3, just hours before Santorum’s final appearance on the network. A week later, Erin Burnett <a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/2105/10/ebo.01.html">asked </a>Van Jones, “Is there room in the Republican Party for anyone who&#8217;s against former President Trump?” As far back as February, CNN correspondent Abby Phillip <a href="http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/2102/05/sitroom.01.html">told</a> Wolf Blitzer, that “there is no room in the Republican Party right now for people who are not willing to back Donald Trump up on virtually anything.”
Brooking dissent is for thee, but not for me.
“When I was [at] CNN I heard [c]ommentators call ICE agents ‘slave traders’ &amp; all Trump supporters ‘racists,’ and nobody on the Left was ever disciplined,” <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonMillerinDC/status/1396271511099617280">tweeted</a> Jason Miller, who is now at Newsmax. “Ever.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Very disappointed <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CNN</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/RickSantorum?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RickSantorum</a> made inartful comment &amp; apologized. He’s a proven good guy.
When I was <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CNN</a> I heard Commentators call ICE agents “slave traders” &amp; all Trump supporters “racists,” and nobody on the Left was ever disciplined.
Ever.<a href="https://t.co/49xyJxduhb">https://t.co/49xyJxduhb</a>
&mdash; Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonMillerinDC/status/1396271511099617280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2021</a></blockquote>
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In CNN’s alternate reality, there’s room for people of all party labels, as long as they’re willing to hew to the network’s party line.
Governor Andrew Cuomo once <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/19/gov-cuomo-pro-life-conservatives-have-no-place-new/">said</a> that pro-life, pro-family, pro-Second Amendment conservatives have “no place in the state of New York.” Now, CNN is taking the same line in Atlanta. Maybe the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chris-cuomo-advised-andrew-cuomo-on-sexual-harassment-allegations-cnn-wont-punish-him">advice</a> on his calls with Chris Cuomo goes both ways.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

OPINION: CNN Doesn’t Want To Hear Anyone Who Sounds Like You

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CNN has ended its contract with conservative commentator Rick Santorum after the former senator said America’s Founding Fathers “birthed a nation from nothing,” the network confirmed on Saturday.
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The two-time GOP presidential candidate angered the network’s viewers with comments he made to Young America’s Foundation on April 23.
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When the Pilgrims arrived in 1620, “There was nothing here,” he said. “Yes, we have Native Americans, but candidly there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture.” The Founding Fathers “came here, mostly from Europe, and they set up a country that was based on Judeo-Christian principles,” Santorum said.
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HuffPost <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rick-santorum-cnn-native-americans_n_60a92fa6e4b0313547978140">broke</a> the news of Santorum’s termination on Saturday afternoon, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/22/media/rick-santorum-cnn-departure-native-american-criticism/index.html">scooping</a> CNN on its own story by nearly three hours.
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A “CNN senior executive,” who spoke on condition of anonymity, told HuffPost that “None of the anchors wanted to book him, so he was essentially benched, anyway.”
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“When I signed on with CNN,” Santorum <a href="https://twitter.com/RickSantorum/status/1396295675608981508?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet">tweeted</a> late Saturday night, “I understood I would be providing commentary that is not regularly heard by the typical CNN viewer. I appreciate the opportunity CNN provided me over the past 4 years. I am committed to continuing the fight for our conservative principles and values.”
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
When I signed on with CNN, I understood I would be providing commentary that is not regularly heard by the typical CNN viewer. I appreciate the opportunity CNN provided me over the past 4 years. I am committed to continuing the fight for our conservative principles and values.
&mdash; Rick Santorum (@RickSantorum) <a href="https://twitter.com/RickSantorum/status/1396295675608981508?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Several in the news media, including some at CNN, celebrated his departure. W. Kamau Bell, the host of CNN’s “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cnn-host-praises-antifa-violence-yes-people-get-hurt">United Shades of America</a>,” mocked his recent colleague, <a href="https://twitter.com/wkamaubell/status/1396200563725930498">tweeting</a>: “See you on @newsmax! Just kidding, @RickSantorum. I don’t watch Newsmax.”
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
See you on <a href="https://twitter.com/NEWSMAX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@newsmax</a>!*
*Just kidding, <a href="https://twitter.com/RickSantorum?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RickSantorum</a>. I don’t watch Newsmax.😁<a href="https://t.co/AHpbZkwe2y">https://t.co/AHpbZkwe2y</a>
&mdash; W. Kamau Bell (@wkamaubell) <a href="https://twitter.com/wkamaubell/status/1396200563725930498?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2021</a></blockquote>
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MSNBC’s senior producer of “The Last Word,” Kyle Griffin, <a href="https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1396175276535521285">said</a> CNN fired Santorum “after racist, inaccurate remarks he made about Native Americans.”
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After Santorum said that the culture of the Founding Fathers had little in common with the tribal culture of their time, advocacy groups compared him to the Nazis and Holocaust deniers.
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“Televising someone with [Santorum’s] views on Native American genocide is fundamentally no different than putting an outright Nazi on television to justify the Holocaust,” <a href="https://www.ncai.org/news/articles/2021/04/26/ncai-president-fawn-sharp-s-statement-re-rick-santorum-comments-to-young-american-foundation">said</a> National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) President Fawn Sharp days later.
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Santorum had said nothing addressing the government’s treatment of indigenous tribes in his remarks.
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The former Pennsylvania Republican last appeared on CNN on May 3, where he addressed the speech after a surprise question on “Cuomo Prime Time.”
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“People have said, &#8216;Oh, I&#8217;m trying to dismiss what we did to the Native Americans.&#8217; Far from it!” Santorum said on May 3. “The way we treated Native Americans was horrific. It goes against every bone and everything I&#8217;ve ever fought for, as a leader, in the Congress.”
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&quot;I wanted to give you a chance to explain yourself, because that&#39;s what this show is about.&quot;
Tonight <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisCuomo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChrisCuomo</a> asked Rick Santorum about Santorum&#39;s widely-condemned comments on Native American culture – here&#39;s the entire clip <a href="https://t.co/yXZeIsGnpd">pic.twitter.com/yXZeIsGnpd</a>
&mdash; Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianstelter/status/1389395080688152576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2021</a></blockquote>
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“I misspoke in this respect,” he clarified. “I was talking about the founding, and the principles embodied in the founding,” such as “the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.”
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CNN host Don Lemon <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/don-lemon-contradicts-1619-project-europeans-did-not-found-this-country">said</a> the interview made him “furious,” because “the first words out of [Santorum’s] mouth weren’t, ‘I’m sorry. I said something ignorant. I need to learn about the history of this country.’”
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“Europeans did not found this country,” Lemon clarified. “[T]hey … had nothing to do with the founding of this country, and [Santorum] should recognize that.”
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Lemon went on to say that comments like Santorum’s are “why you have an insurrection.”
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Don Lemon tears into Rick Santorum for not apologizing for his Native American remarks on CNN tonight.
&quot;Did he actually think it is a good idea for him to come on television to whitewash the whitewash that he whitewashed? It was horrible! It was horrible and insulting!&quot; <a href="https://t.co/vLndQKE66A">pic.twitter.com/vLndQKE66A</a>
&mdash; Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) <a href="https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1389403242098999305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2021</a></blockquote>
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A CNN executive told HuffPost, “I think after that appearance, it was pretty clear we couldn’t use him again.”
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HuffPost went on to <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cnn-advertisers-rick-santorum-native-americans_n_60997c0ce4b012351604a9b2">contact</a> all 37 advertisers on that night’s edition of Cuomo’s show.
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Days later, a <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cnn-rick-santorum-racism-native-americans_n_60941b1de4b0ccb91c3bd8aa">joint statement</a> from the NACI and the NAACP said, “By failing to denounce these comments, CNN intrinsically ties itself to a blatantly racist commentator.”
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Group Of Republican Senators Introduce The Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson Proposal To Reform Healthcare

CNN Fires Rick Santorum After He Claimed Founding Fathers ‘Birthed A Nation From Nothing’

Since the announcement of Sen. John McCain&#8217;s death, the media has seized the opportunity to bash President Trump for his constant quarreling with the late senator, even though that same media bashed McCain with the same fervor just one decade ago. Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2018/08/cnn-panel-goes-off-rails-rick-santorum-tries-go-chris-cuomos-brother-always-lower/#.W4SqXwURWP0.twitter">appeared on CNN with Chris Cuomo</a> to tell the media to knock off the cheap theatrics.
&#8220;I just don&#8217;t think it does anything to the memory of John McCain to use him as a cudgel to beat up the president,&#8221; Santorum told Cuomo. &#8220;The media seems to have this fascination to try to use the death of John McCain to further belittle and beat up Donald Trump.&#8221;
Cuomo shot back, saying, &#8220;You think we need to do that to find reasons to criticize the president? This is a moment that matters.&#8221;
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Holy crap! <a href="https://twitter.com/RickSantorum?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RickSantorum</a> says the media is using the president disrespecting <a href="https://twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenJohnMcCain</a> to victimize <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CNN</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisCuomo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChrisCuomo</a>
&#8212; Col. Morris Davis (@ColMorrisDavis) <a href="https://twitter.com/ColMorrisDavis/status/1034250958702821376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Bakari Sellers then accused the GOP of becoming a party of &#8220;cowardice&#8221; under President Trump, with members trying to &#8220;contort themselves into pretzels&#8221; as they defend Trump&#8217;s behavior.
&#8220;The fact is, you have John McCain who is a war hero. Even my Democrats, even the people on the left who want to chastise him for whatever his policy may have been, we&#8217;re saying that now is not the time,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You have a president this week who did not stand up and show the best of what we can be, and that&#8217;s a problem. John McCain deserves all the glory today.&#8221;
Sellers added: &#8220;You don&#8217;t have to kowtow like Rick&#8217;s doing right now on TV and make excuses for a president who does not deserve excuses.&#8221;
With that, Santorum referenced Cuomo&#8217;s brother, Andrew, castigating America as being &#8220;never that great&#8221; in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/08/15/andrew-cuomo-america-was-never-that-great/?utm_term=.9223167997f7">a speech</a> last Wednesday. It was then that the panel erupted into a schoolyard slap-fest.
&#8220;You&#8217;re so petty,&#8221; Sellers said, shaking his head.
Cuomo interjected: &#8220;Come on, don&#8217;t play cheap. You talk about my brother &#8230; you can&#8217;t do better than that? I&#8217;ll give you a hundred things about my brother that are true that are much worse than that.&#8221;&#8203;
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CNN panel goes off the rails when Rick Santorum tries to go after Chris Cuomo&#8217;s brother <a href="https://t.co/LboxCK788p">https://t.co/LboxCK788p</a>
&#8212; Raw Story (@RawStory) <a href="https://twitter.com/RawStory/status/1034405264391380993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Rick Santorum Accuses Media Of Politicizing McCain’s Death. CNN Panel Goes Wild.

Chris Cuomo

Conservatives have mixed opinions regarding President Trump&#8217;s pick to the Supreme Court: Brett Kavanaugh. While some feel Trump picked a man of worthy credentials, others feel he shelved the best candidate &#8212; Amy Coney Barrett &#8212; in the name of appealing to the D.C. establishment, especially in light of Kavanaugh&#8217;s relationship to the Bush family.
One such conservative who feels Trump bowed to the establishment is former GOP presidential candidate <a data-rapid-parsed="slk" data-rapid_p="2" data-v9y="1" data-ylk="subsec:paragraph;cpos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0" href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/topic/rick-santorum">Rick Santorum</a>, who told Chris Cuomo on CNN that Trump had an opportunity to energize his base and instead threw cold water over it.
&#8220;I think that Donald Trump said he was going to energize the base with this pick. I don&#8217;t think he did that,&#8221; Santorum told Cuomo.
Santorum said that Trump&#8217;s base was largely &#8220;turned off&#8221; by Kavanaugh due to being part of President George W. Bush&#8217;s legal team. To them, the pick is not a MAGA moment.
&#8220;He is from Washington. He is the establishment pick. He is the Bush pick,&#8221; Santorum said.
&#8220;It just seems like Trump in this case <a data-rapid-parsed="slk" data-rapid_p="6" data-v9y="1" data-ylk="subsec:paragraph;cpos:5;elm:context_link;itc:0" href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/09/politics/rick-santorum-scotus-pick-cnntv/index.html?sr=twCNNp070918rick-santorum-scotus-pick-cnntv1135PMVODtop&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twCNNp&amp;utm_term=image&amp;utm_content=2018-07-10T03%3A35%3A58" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">just bowed to the elite in Washington</a> and I think that&#8217;s going to rub a lot of people the wrong way,&#8221; said Santorum. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s going to be a game-changer, but I think it&#8217;s not a, &#8216;Yeah, let&#8217;s go get them&#8217; kind of moment for Trump.&#8221;
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Rick Santorum On Trump’s SCOTUS Pick: He ‘Bowed To Washington Elite’

Supreme Court

Sunday&#8217;s State of the Union on CNN saw former Pennsylvania senator and Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum describe himself as aligned with Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) on the issue of international trade.

Invited by Jake Tapper to comment on the politics and partisan loyalties of &#8220;white working class voters,&#8221; Santorum described the Democrats as &#8220;the party of Bernie Sanders.&#8221;

Jennifer Granholm &#8211; former governor of Michigan, a Clinton loyalist and current CNN commentator &#8211; interjected by casting Santorum and Sanders as sharing a platform on international trade.

Partial <a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1702/26/sotu.01.html">transcript</a> below (emphases added):

<blockquote>
SANTORUM: Yes, the problem with &#8212; the problem with that is that the Democratic Party has become the party of Bernie Sanders, I mean they are the progressives. That&#8217;s who control.

I mean, to say there is a substantive difference between Perez and Ellison, there is no substantive difference. I mean, it was a style that (INAUDIBLE) sort of connection difference. But on the philosophy this is Bernie Sanders&#8217; party. And as striking as the Republican transformation under Trump is, it&#8217;s even more striking in my opinion from a policy point of view, the transformation of the Democratic Party to be really the party of a Vermont socialist, who has &#8212; who has been out there on the far reaches of the Democratic Party, now is the central figure in their party.

That to me is something that&#8217;s really remarkable.

GRANHOLM: But wait a second. Aren&#8217;t you the person who was talking about making sure that trade is fair? I mean, aren&#8217;t you raising the &#8212; haven&#8217;t you been raising these same issues? You and I have both been raising these same issues.

So Bernie Sanders has been raising those issues too. That economic core issue is a Democratic issue, you can brand it all you want, but you&#8217;ve been raising that issue too.

SANTORUM: Well, if I&#8217;ve been raising issues it&#8217;s not a core Democratic issue. Obviously it&#8217;s something I&#8217;ve been raising and if you recall the last president to put in tariffs was George W. Bush who put in steel tariffs. So &#8212; no, this is not &#8212;

GRANHOLM: But you&#8217;re in alignment with Bernie Sanders &#8212;

(CROSSTALK)

SANTORUM: On the issue of trade &#8212; on the issue &#8212; on the issue of trade we &#8212; there is alignment but on just about everything else there isn&#8217;t much.
</blockquote>

 
The above-mentioned Santorum-Granholm exchange comes on the heels of President Donald Trump&#8217;s recent description of the GOP as &#8220;<a href="http://nypost.com/2017/02/24/trump-vows-to-make-gop-the-party-of-the-american-worker/">the party of the American worker</a>.&#8221; This attempt to rebrand and realign the Republican Party is at odds with left-wing and Democrat narratives and perceptions of &#8220;the working class&#8221; as one of their political constituencies.

Barack Obama marketed the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as a &#8220;free trade&#8221; agreement to lessen barriers to international commerce between participating states. What the TPP&#8217;s proponents generally neglected to mention, however, was the proposed agreement&#8217;s objective of consolidating regulatory standards and burdens of taxation on the production and sale of goods and services captured within its purview. Contrary to its proponents&#8217; presentations, the TPP would have raised the costs of production and sales of goods and services between participatory states under the guise of &#8220;environmental,&#8221; &#8220;labor,&#8221; &#8220;equity,&#8221; and other regulations.

Sanders&#8217;s opposition to TPP resembled reflexive socialist opposition to free trade, describing the proposed agreement as having been drafted by &#8220;big money interests&#8221; and &#8220;multinational corporations.&#8221;
In an earlier interview with Tapper, Sanders expressed his opposition to TPP:

<blockquote>
&#8220;We have had a series of trade agreements in this country, NAFTA, CAFTA, PNTR with China, and the TPP, that were written by big money interests, to the detriment and the harm of working people. 
We have lost millions of decent-paying jobs over the last 25 years through trade agreements that were written by corporate America that benefited corporate America. 
So, I &#8212; the devil is in the details as to what Trump is going to do. What we need is a fair trade policy, not an unfettered free trade policy. Trade is a good thing, but it&#8217;s got to be fair to the American workers, not just the CEOs of large multinational corporations.&#8221;
</blockquote>
Sanders described himself as a &#8220;democratic socialist.&#8221;

Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k">Twitter</a>.
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Santorum: I’m With Sanders On Trade

Bernie Sanders

Donald Trump

Free Trade

Jake Tapper

Jennifer Granholm

State of the Union

Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)

Trump Administration

Speaking at Cornell University Wednesday, former Senator Rick Santorum delivered an insightful rebuttal to protesters who repeatedly interrupted him with chants of &#8220;Shame! Shame! Shame!&#8221;
<blockquote>
&#8220;Now, I suspect that all of the people who just stood will walk around this campus and talk about tolerance.&#8221; The audience erupted into applause at the line, drowning out both Santorum and the protesters. When the fervor died down, he continued: &#8220;&#8230;and all of them will tell you you have to celebrate what? Diversity. Celebrate diversity, preach tolerance, but when it comes to anybody who disagrees with them, there is no tolerance.&#8221;
</blockquote>
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Such disruptions are becoming more and more frequent, especially on college campuses (see Daily Wire Editor in Chief Ben Shapiro&#8217;s <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/10869/shapiro-eviscerates-raucous-protesters-university-hank-berrien">speech</a> at University of Wisconsin). Lacking facts or a reasoned argument with which to wage political warfare, progressives instead choose to silence their opposition.
Silencing one&#8217;s opposition in the manner seen at Cornell accomplishes several things, the most important of which is that it gives protesters the illusion of the moral high ground. Perception is reality, and the perception that the protesters are moral, and the speaker is, by contrast, immoral, is empowering.
To anyone watching who isn&#8217;t politically savvy, the incident between Rick Santorum and the protesters could come across as a simple good versus evil scenario in which Santorum is advocating something offensive, and the protesters are doing what they can to stick it to the man. In short, the powerless are fighting the powerful in the only way they can.
Many who watch the video will not be moved to look any further; they won&#8217;t search for the context of Santorum&#8217;s speech, and the protesters will win the perception war. However, in the full speech, which can be found on <a href="https://youtu.be/z_PhWQYCXfI">YouTube</a>, Santorum says nothing offensive.
Prior to the interruption, Santorum was speaking of the angst felt by those in the blue collar sector who are falling behind. Here&#8217;s the text leading up to the protester outburst:
<blockquote>
&#8220;You have the liberals and the conservatives&#8211;I&#8217;ll speak now back to America. With the liberals, you had, ok, we&#8217;re gonna give you this benefit and that benefit, and by the way, we&#8217;re gonna bring in loads of immigrants into this country to compete against who? [booing and chants of &#8216;shame&#8217; begin].
Let&#8217;s look at the facts. The last twenty years, more people have come into this country than [in] any twenty year period in American history. We bring over a million legal immigrants into this country every single year. In addition, we bring in a lot of illegal immigrants into this country.
The point is, most of those legal and illegal immigrants&#8211;the vast, vast majority of them&#8230;are wage earners, and they are wage earners who command and compete&#8211;effectively, I might add&#8211;against many low-wage workers in this country. That&#8217;s one of the reasons wages have been held down over a long period of time&#8230;
We have seen a flood of manufacturing and resource jobs leave this country, and if you look at the wages that people earned who were blue collar workers, the highest paid wages were in those particular areas.
So, if you&#8217;re a person sitting there at home, and feeling that frustration. You see the Democrats, who say &#8216;we&#8217;re for you,&#8217; but if you look at their policies, they&#8217;re hurting you. On the other hand you look at the Republicans&#8230;Republicans have been insensitive, and have not focused their attention. Thus, the Trump phenomena.
What Donald Trump did was identify these anxieties&#8230;and deliver a message that clearly got through to an inordinate number of people. And what happened was, you had a candidate on the other side who was tone deaf. Both candidates obviously had issues that hamstrung their campaigns, but Trump had a message and she didn&#8217;t.&#8221;
</blockquote>
Santorum was merely analyzing the Trump movement, as well as what preceded it. Nothing he said came close to being offensive, yet the chants of &#8220;shame&#8221; began.
It&#8217;s important to note that at the beginning of the speech, Santorum mentioned that there would be an extensive Q&amp;A when he was finished, and that he even welcomed debate and exchange. However, one cannot debate without coherent arguments. The Left has no coherent arguments, so rather than wait until the Q&amp;A to respectfully engage in a debate, the protesters chose to shout Santorum down.
Knowing the context of Santorum&#8217;s speech, as well as the fact that he welcomed an exchange afterward, the protesters lose any claim to the moral high ground. Rather than come across as warriors fighting the machine, they come across as obnoxious prats with nothing to offer.

WATCH: Rick Santorum Befuddles College Snowflake Protesters

Hillary Clinton

On Tuesday, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum officially endorsed the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, for president.
&#8220;I&#8217;m 100 percent,&#8221; <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/281140-santorum-endorses-trump">stated</a> Santorum in an interview with Fox&#8217;s Greta Van Susteren &#8220;That&#8217;s endorse.&#8221;
Santorum had previously supported Sen. Marco Rubio. 
Trump, however, had asked Santorum for his support during a meeting last week. Santorum felt compelled to oblige after reflecting on the next president&#8217;s likely duty to choose a Supreme Court nominee. 
&#8220;The most important issue is preserving the Constitution of this country and a liberal Supreme Court will destroy it,&#8221; he argued. 
According to The Hill, &#8220;Santorum conceded that the 2016 race, in his view, is more about personalities than policy.&#8221; As a result, Santorum&#8217;s endorsement came off as slightly ambivalent. 
&#8220;I think Americans maybe just want a little unvarnished [candidate]. I can&#8217;t say that I&#8217;m crazy about it,&#8221; he concluded. &#8220;I think the American public has made up their mind about <a href="http://thehill.com/people/hillary-clinton">Hillary Clinton</a>. I think Donald Trump still has an opportunity to cast the right lot and win this election.&#8221;
Santorum first entered the national spotlight after making a name for himself as a social conservative crusader. He has since supported Christian causes that promote traditional family values.

Rick Santorum Endorses Trump For President

Marco Rubio might want to rethink his comments lauding Rick Santorum as someone who will be useful for Rubio&#8217;s presidential bid. On Thursday, the former 2016 presidential hopeful who dropped out of the race on Wednesday while endorsing Rubio had a singular problem when he was asked to name any of Rubio&#8217;s senatorial accomplishments: he <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/268185-santorum-struggles-to-name-a-rubio-accomplishment">couldn&#8217;t name one</a>.
Appearing on MSNBC&#8217;s &#8220;Morning Joe,&#8221; where he was asked what Rubio&#8217;s top accomplishment was that had elicited Santorum&#8217; s support, Santorum stumbled, &#8220;Well, I mean, uh, I would just say, that, there&#8217;s a guy who&#8217;s, uh, been able to, uh, uh, number one, uh, win .. win a tough election in Florida, and and pull people together from a variety of different, uh, spots &#8230; this is a guy that, uh, I think can work together with people &#8230;&#8221;
Pressed again to name Rubio&#8217;s top accomplishment, Santorum lamely protested, &#8220;My feeling on Marco is someone who has tremendous potential, tremendous gifts, if you look at being a minority in the United States Senate in a year, four years where nothing got done, I guess it&#8217;s hard to say there are accomplishments. I mean, tell me, what happened during that four years that was an accomplishment for anybody. It was a complete gridlock.&#8221;
Finally, Santorum concluded, &#8220;The bottom line is there isn&#8217;t a lot of accomplishments, Joe, and I just don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s a fair question to say &#8211; over the last four years where nothing has happened and then blame one person because he didn&#8217;t get accomplishments done. Neither did President Obama.&#8221;
Racking his brain, Santorum finally retrieved something: Rubio opposed the $2.5 billion ObamaCare bailout. He iterated, &#8220;Well, I know he included something that went after the insurance companies in the most recent omnibus. He fought for that, to stop bailing out insurance companies. That&#8217;s one thing I&#8217;m familiar that I just saw recently.&#8221;
Finally, Santorum concluded, &#8220;The bottom line is there isn&#8217;t a lot of accomplishments, Joe, and I just don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s a fair question to say &#8211; over the last four years where nothing has happened and then blame one person because he didn&#8217;t get accomplishments done. Neither did President Obama.&#8221;
<blockquote>
&#8220;The bottom line is there isn&#8217;t a lot of accomplishments, Joe.&#8221;
Rick Santorum on Marco Rubio
</blockquote>
Rubio had said of Santorum, &#8220;We look forward to teaming up; he&#8217;s going to be hopefully very active in our campaign. We want to use him as much as he&#8217;s willing to work for us.&#8221;

Santorum Endorses Rubio, Then Struggles To Name Something Rubio’s Done

Marco Rubio

On Thursday, in a craven move that belied their supposedly rock-ribbed conservative principles, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, who won the 2008 and 2012 Iowa GOP caucuses respectively, <a href="http://theresurgent.com/mike-huckabee-and-rick-santorum-end-their-campaigns-and-kneel-before-zod/">attended</a> Donald Trump&#8217;s shameless self-promotional event at Drake University.
Both men have attempted to portray themselves as true conservatives, but that didn&#8217;t prevent them from offering tacit support for a man who is anything but conservative by showing up at his event. Huckabee, of course, has been furious for some time that the money from evangelical sources that propelled his 2008 candidacy has flowed to Ted Cruz, and the chance to stick a shiv in Cruz&#8217;s ribs by attending a rally for Cruz&#8217;s greatest rival was too juicy for him to pass up. In 2008, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/05/huckabee.innovation/">CNN</a> reported that entrance polls showed up to 80% of Huckabee&#8217;s backers in Iowa were self-identified evangelicals. But when Cruz and Huckabee <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2cd4369d1e1e4aac84501103eb13ee77/cruz-huckabee-go-head-head-evangelical-votes">competed</a> for the evangelical vote in 2015, Cruz virtually swept the field with evangelical endorsements, from <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/12/10/bob-vander-plaats-influential-iowa-conservative-endorses-ted-cruz/?_r=0">Bob Vander Plaats</a> to <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/james-dobson-endorses-ted-cruz/article/2578655">James Dobson</a> to <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/01/cruz-secures-major-evangelical-endorsement">Tony Perkins</a> to an <a href="https://www.tedcruz.org/news/more-than-200-faith-leaders-endorse-ted-cruz-for-president/">incredible list</a> of 200 Christian leaders around the nation. Thus Huckabee&#8217;s apparent bitterness played a part in supporting Trump.
Santorum, of course, had the same issue; as <a href="http://www.pewforum.org/2012/01/04/religion-and-the-2012-iowa-republican-caucuses/">Pew Research</a> reported in 2012, &#8220;Among the 57% of Iowa caucus-goers who describe themselves as born-again or evangelical Christians, Santorum finished in first place with 32% support.&#8221; Losing his evangelical support to Cruz had to be a bitter pill for Santorum to swallow.
At the Thursday event, Santorum took a page out of Donald Trump&#8217;s whining playbook (I whine until I win), ripping Fox News to <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/01/28/rick-santorum-rips-megyn-kelly-roger-ailes-fox-news-for-making-sure-game-is-being-stacked-in-elections/">Breitbart</a>: &#8220;I wish all the networks would receive the same criticism that Fox is getting right now, but look, you&#8217;re looking at a guy who announced on the last week of May and has not been invited back on Fox and Friends, has never had an interview on Megyn Kelly, has never had an interview with Bill O&#8217;Reilly. They won&#8217;t put me on the show.&#8221;
Santorum admitted that Martha MacCallum, Bill Hemmer, Greta Van Susteren, and Sean Hannity have all hosted him on Fox, but his hubris apparently kept him from mentioning that his miniscule poll numbers might have kept him from appearing on Kelly and O&#8217;Reilly&#8217;s shows.
Then Santorum, attending a rally that would only help Trump as he faces off with Cruz, had the gall to continue, &#8220;We made our case that we have a pretty strong track record of being able to get things done and passing conservative things. It&#8217;s easy to pass immigration bills that President Obama will sign. But it&#8217;s not easy to pass welfare reform bills that Bill Clinton signed. That&#8217;s the difference between someone who goes there and fights and leads and someone who goes there and just tries to go along with the way things are going in Washington.&#8221;
<blockquote>
The chance to stick a shiv in Cruz&#8217;s ribs by attending a rally for Cruz&#8217;s greatest rival was too juicy for him to pass up.

</blockquote>
If Santorum truly believed his own verbiage, he would stand side-by-side with Cruz, the quintessential fighter against the status quo, rather than support Trump by attending his rally, but for Santorum, self-aggrandizement apparently trumps principle.
The palpable bitterness evidenced by Huckabee and Santorum led them to betray their supposed principles Thursday night.
What a shame.

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