In an interview with newly announced Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Thursday’s Good Morning America, co-host George Stephanopoulos tried to put the former Pennsylvania senator on the spot: “Rand Paul had something interesting to say about ISIS this morning.” A clip followed of Paul declaring on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Wednesday: “ISIS exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party who gave arms indiscriminately and most of those arms were snatched up by ISIS.”
Santorum quickly pushed back: “Well, I would expect to hear that from maybe Bernie Sanders. I don’t expect to hear that from someone running for the Republican nomination. I think that is just fundamentally a misunderstanding of the nature of the enemy we face.”
He added: “ISIS didn't come about because of the arms that America left behind. ISIS came about because they hate everything that we believe in and we stand for. That's what the problem is. They hate who we are, not necessarily what we do.”
Stephanopoulos then attempted to go after Santorum’s stance on immigration: “You’ve actually gone further than a lot of Republicans and say it's time to reduce legal immigration. Hasn't legal immigration been the engine of growth and opportunity in America for generations?”
Santorum explained: “I'm only talking about a 25% reduction in legal immigration....the most affected are African-Americans and Hispanics who have the highest rates of unemployment and are the ones who find the most competition with recent immigrants. So the idea that this is anti-Hispanic or anti-whatever it is, is ridiculous.”
Posing the toughest question in the exchange, Stephanopoulos asked: “Let me ask you about something else in the news. Last time around when you ran, you had the support of the Duggar family....We had that revelation last week. I was just wondering what your reaction was to it.”
Santorum replied: “I was sickened by it. I was just sickened by it. I pray for those girls in particular. To have gone through that is – just hard to think about.”
Overall, the interview was not as biased as one might expect from former Clinton operative Stephanopoulos, who was perhaps chastened by the recent scandal surrounding his $75,000 donation to the Clinton Foundation.
Wednesday’s World News Tonight provided a brief preview of Stephanopoulos’s sit-down with Santorum while NBC Nightly News and CBS Evening News only gave seconds to the latest candidate entering the 2016 race.
Here is a full transcript of the May 28 GMA segment:
7:12 AM ET
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We’re gonna turn now to the newest candidate in the race for the White House. Republican Rick Santorum came in a surprise second place to Mitt Romney last time around and now the former Senator from Pennsylvania hoping to break out of a big field by going back to his working class roots. We sat down in his hometown and talked about everything from taking on Hillary Clinton to why his second run will turn out better than the first.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Big New Name Enters Race for the White House; Santorum: “I’m Ready to Do This Again”]
RICK SANTORUM: I'm ready to do this again. Yeah, it's an exciting opportunity to come back home.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Why are you the best person to turn this all around now?
SANTORUM: I’ve been working at this really my entire political career. If you look at what I’ve done for the poor, you look at what I’ve done in the area of manufacturing and creating jobs, you look at what I’ve done in national security policy, with particularly calling out both the last president and this one on the gathering storm of radical Islam. I've been out there on national security issues, on economic issues, on issues to help those who are struggling in America.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You talk about calling out presidents on radical Islam. Rand Paul had something interesting to say about ISIS this morning.
SEN. RAND PAUL: ISIS exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party who gave arms indiscriminately and most of those arms were snatched up by ISIS.
SANTORUM: Well, I would expect to hear that from maybe Bernie Sanders. I don’t expect to hear that from someone running for the Republican nomination. I think that is just fundamentally a misunderstanding of the nature of the enemy we face. ISIS didn't come about because of the arms that America left behind. ISIS came about because they hate everything that we believe in and we stand for. That's what the problem is. They hate who we are, not necessarily what we do.
STEPHANOPOULOS: I want to ask you about something else, though, in the news right now is immigration. You’ve actually gone further than a lot of Republicans and say it's time to reduce legal immigration. Hasn't legal immigration been the engine of growth and opportunity in America for generations?
SANTORUM: I'm only talking about a 25% reduction in legal immigration. I'm for American workers, many of them Hispanics. Most of the ones who are the most affected are African-Americans and Hispanics who have the highest rates of unemployment and are the ones who find the most competition with recent immigrants. So the idea that this is anti-Hispanic or anti-whatever it is, is ridiculous.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me ask you about something else in the news. Last time around when you ran, you had the support of the Duggar family.
JOSH DUGGAR: Senator Rick Santorum will fight for small businesses and bring American jobs back home.
STEPHANOPOULOS: We had that revelation last week. I was just wondering what your reaction was to it.
SANTORUM: I was sickened by it. I was just sickened by it. I pray for those girls in particular. To have gone through that is – just hard to think about.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And while the primaries are his first hurdle, Santorum is raring to go at Hillary. Hillary Clinton, big front-runner on the Democratic side. Make the 30-second case for why you're the best person to take Hillary on in 2016.
SANTORUM: Well, number one, national security is key. The ability to go up there and debate Hillary Clinton with a track record. Number two, we’ve taken her on. We’ve taken her on, on everything from moral and cultural issues on the floor of the United States Senate, debated her on those issues. We’ve taken her on in her political shop.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator, good to see you.
SANTORUM: Thank you.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The question is, how does he get there? This is a huge field right now.
ROBIN ROBERTS: And it's expected to grow again today, later today?
SANTORUM: Yeah, Republican former Governor of New York George Pataki on the Republican side and Martin O'Malley on the Democratic side on Saturday.
ROBERTS: We’ll see what happens.
STEPHANOPOULOS: A lot going on.
