Santorum: 'Phony Scandals' Talk is Just Obama Crisis Management

President Barack Obama is in "crisis management" as he tries to label some of his administration's recent problems "phony scandals," says former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.

Appearing on Fox News Channel's "On the Record" Thursday, Santorum said that Obama figured when the multiple scandals began hitting in the spring he could simply say they were inexcusable and move on. A friendly media would help him bury the stories, he thought.

"But it's much bigger than obviously he believed he could handle," Santorum said, so now he has to try to divert attention and lie about it as he sees his own poll numbers plummet.

Controversies erupted one after another earlier this year as questions began being asked about a possible cover-up on the investigation of the Benghazi attack, the IRS scrutinizing conservative groups unfairly, the Justice Department spying on the press and the NSA keeping digital communications records on everyone.

The problem, Santorum said, is the enormity of the issues, particularly the intrusion into people's lives by the NSA and IRS.

"This is scaring people," he said. "Now we have Obamacare coming in. We're going to have all these health records, all of this government control of your health and health dollars."