Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Sunday asserted that minorities "should be voting" for Donald Trump for the sake of their "well-being."
While speaking on the CNN's State of the Union panel, Santorum argued that Republicans lost control of the U.S. House of Representatives because Trump had committed "unforced errors" that turned off suburban voters.
"While at the same time not appealing to minorities, who I think should be voting for him based upon his record of the economy and what he's doing to create employment opportunities and better well-being for them," he opined. It is unclear if Santorum is aware that the incidences of hate-crimes specifically directed at minorities is up significantly during Trump's administration, per the NAACP, which would not indicate a better well-being for people of color.
After Santorum made his point, CNN host Jake Tapper noted that Trump had attacked three black women reporters in the last week.
"I'm pissed, Jake," former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner replied. "The president was a bully, just flat out. And some people will say he's an equal opportunity bully. But we understand that in this country when you level those kinds of comments against African-Americans -- you're a loser, you're stupid -- he knows exactly what he's doing."
"He's invoking and stirring up stereotypes that impact the African-American community, our image, our profession, who we are more deeply than anybody else," Turner explained. "He should be ashamed of himself but he is not."
Rick Santorum responded by defending Trump.
"I -- the president does treat everybody that -- that -- that confronts him poorly," Santorum stuttered. "And -- but having said that, he needs to be aware of what he's doing. He can't -- he can't see this as not in a vacuum that it is. He -- he went after people, specifically African-American women."
"And he has to recognize that's a problem," the former Republican senator added. "He shouldn't do it."
