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Santorum on Trump: 'I'd vote for him over Hillary Clinton'
08/07/2015   By Mark Hensch | The Hill
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Former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) said on Friday that he would back fellow GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016 over Democrat Hillary Clinton if it came to that.

“I would vote for him over Hillary Clinton,” Santorum told hosts Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“If you look at how most social conservatives are going to vote, they are going to vote based on someone that they do trust,” said Santorum, who also ran in 2012.

“This is a primary, you don’t have to take someone you have to take a risk on,” he added. “I’d vote for me in a primary.”

Trump angered some Republicans on Thursday evening by refusing to rule out an independent Oval Office bid should he lose the GOP nomination.

Santorum argued on Friday that it is too early for Republicans to discount anyone seeking their party’s 2016 mantle just yet.

“It’s August — it’s a long way to go,” Santorum said. “Everyone is going to be paying attention to the killer sound bites.”

“The people in Iowa and New Hampshire are going to be paying attention to the substantive answers to the questions,” he added.

He argued on Friday that last night’s 5 p.m. GOP debate on Fox News before the top 10 event shows the bountiful field available to Republican voters next year.

Santorum, a noted critic of his party’s debate rules, participated in its undercard contest on Thursday evening.

“The happy hour debate was a substantive debate,” he said. “I feel pretty good that we addressed a lot of important issues and we hit those themes very well.”

Santorum additionally vowed he would use any means necessary to take away Planned Parenthood’s federal funding should he become president.

Planned Parenthood is currently facing scrutiny following a series of undercover videos released detailing its medical practices involving fetal tissue.

“If you look at what Planned Parenthood has done today, they have dehumanized the child in the womb,” he said, adding that he considers the group’s methods “barbaric and callous.” 
 

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