Rick Santorum Tells Two Whoppers

BY Lucas Grindley

February 26 2012 2:55 PM ET

Rick Santorum tried yet again to pretend on Meet the Press today that he doesn't talk about social issues, and in response he got a swift dressing down from moderator David Gregory. But that didn't stop Santorum from telling an even bigger whopper, claiming no proof exists that he wants to impose his own values on other Americans.

"These are my personal held religious beliefs," Santorum said. "There is no evidence at all that I want to impose those values on anyone else."

Lately, Santorum has regularly claimed he doesn't actually talk about social issues. Instead, it's a myth perpetuated as part of a "game" the media plays, he's said. After the CNN debate in Arizona this week, Santorum predictably attacked moderator John King for asking him about contraception, for example. And before that, he sniped at a television reporter in Michigan for asking about whether same-sex couples should be allowed to adopt.

So today it was Gregory's turn, and he asked about Santorum's past criticism of President John F. Kennedy for saying a president's religious views should be separate from policy. He noted that Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley Strassel has called Santorum "Moralizer in Chief" for his belief that contraception and homosexuality, among other things, are against God's will.

"It's so funny," Santorum started to answer Gregory's question with a smirk. "I get the question all the time, why are you talking so much about the social issues as people ask me about the social issues —"

"Senator, no wait a minute," Gregory interrupted him. "You talk about this stuff every week, and by the way, it's not just in this campaign."

Gregory had done his research. (And so have we; check out our list of some of the many places on the campaign trail where Santorum's gone antigay.)

"I've gone back years when you've been in public life, and you have made this a centerpiece of your public life," Gregory lectured. "So the notion that these are not deeply held views worthy of question and scrutiny, it's not just about the press."

Santorum admitted that, "Yeah, they are deeply held views, but they are not what I dominantly talk about." And then he implored Gregory to "look at my record, I never wanted to impose any of the things that you've just talked about."

The list of reasons why that statement isn't true would, of course, have to start with Santorum twice signing pledges that, if elected, he would ban same-sex marriage via an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He's said that would also immediately annul the marriages of thousands of same-sex couples and have the effect, he has promised, of banning adoption by those same couples. Santorum has actually bragged about being one of the original authors of the "Federal Marriage Amendment" that would do all of that.

Watch the clip below.