Santorum: Earlier Debates Were More Interesting, 'Substantive'

The vicious sniping between Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump and his chief rival Sen. Ted Cruz is nothing more than a "food fight" being stoked by a ratings-hungry media, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who is also seeking the 2016 GOP nomination, tells Newsmax TV.

And, Santorum believes, the two candidates' shrill verbal pyrotechnics are giving Americans the short shrift on real issues facing the nation.

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"I don't think it helps anybody. I mean this back and forth nastiness is unfortunately exactly what the media wants to see," Santorum said Thursday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

"This is what they want to report on, this is what they want to talk about. This has been one of the most frustrating things in this campaign — the lack of real substantive discussion.

"The earlier debates were interesting because they were substantive and there was a lot to sort of grab onto there. The later debates tended to be more of a food fight. But that's all the media likes to talk about — the food fight. So more food fight actually doesn't help anybody."

He said the ongoing attacks are not giving Americans what they need to choose "the right person to lead this country."

Santorum also downplayed the endorsement tea party favorite and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gave Donald Trump earlier this week.

"I respect her … [but] I don't think it's … overall that important. Particularly the presidential race," he said.

"I know Sarah has stepped in and endorsed candidates like Nikki Haley, for example, in South Carolina, and had tremendous impact. But that's … where most people don't really know the candidate and so Sarah Palin's word that this person is the right person could mean something.

"But in this case, Donald Trump is equally as well-known as Sarah Palin and maybe very more so.... People's opinions have been pretty formed. I don't think that's going to make much of a difference."

Santorum also decried what he believes is the waning interest of Republicans in fighting abortion because it helps their campaign coffers.

"It's the people who are financing Republican campaigns who unfortunately are on the other side," Santorum told Malzberg.

"They may even support us, but they have a whole circle of friends that don't, who are those ultra-liberal Democrats who they happen to socialize with and they happen to live next door to.

"The folks who are supporting the Republican Party with the biggest dollars, unfortunately live in the major cities in America, in the wealthy neighborhoods … and it's that social circle that is probably the most extreme on the issue of abortion. That's where the money comes from."

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