Rick Santorum, who still exists, says we must ban marriage equality for the children

Running for president a second time and frothy as ever, America's best anti-gay warrior strikes again

By Sophia Tesfaye

Senior Politics Editor

Published June 17, 2015 8:10PM (EDT)

Rick Santorum             (AP/Nati Harnik)
Rick Santorum (AP/Nati Harnik)

"Hide yo wife, hide yo kids," Rick Santorum promises to save America's children from gay marriage.

Former Republican Senator and current presidential candidate Rick Santorum vowed to right-wing lunatic and one-time Virginian Lieutenant Governor candidate, Pastor E.W. Jackson, that he would protect children's "birthright, which is to be raised by their mother and father."

During a conference call last week with Jackson and conservative activists, Santorum cited sociologists Robert Putnam and Charles Murray to argue that the "inability for people to rise in America" can be traced back to "the breakdown of the nuclear family."

As soon as Santorum ended his prepared remarks, pegged to the economy and full of anti-immigration rhetoric, participants on the call were eager to jump into social issues.

The very first caller asked Santorum about children "being forced to accept lifestyles that are totally against our values" by the government. Although the caller prefaced his question by referencing "people that hurt children by way of child molestation," Santorum responded by addressing the upcoming Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage:

If the Court rules on that, that is in fact that law of the land, but just like on a lot of other things that I don't agree with the Court on what they do, that doesn't mean we won't fight and try to push back both as the Congress should and as the president should as a co-equal branch of the government. And so, depending on what they rule, and I don't know what they're going to rule, we would certainly make sure that we are protecting children and that we are creating an optimal atmosphere for every child, as I said, that have their birthright, which is to be raised by their mother and father.

Jackson, who spent the first half of the call defending a cop caught slamming a teenage girl and brandishing a gun at a group of unarmed black teenagers from charges of racism, ensured call participants that he had not endorsed Santorum in the 2016 election but did make clear he respected Santorum's positions.

Listen to Santorum's ridiculous remarks captured by Right-Wing Watch:


By Sophia Tesfaye

Sophia Tesfaye is Salon's senior editor for news and politics, and resides in Washington, D.C. You can find her on Twitter at @SophiaTesfaye.

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2016 Elections Anti-gay Lawmakers Discrimination Lgbt Marriage Equality Rick Santorum Supreme Court Video