Rick Santorum: Obama's 'Minions' Were Scared Of Me In 2012

Rick Santorum: Obama's 'Minions' Were Scared Of Me In 2012

Former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum said Tuesday that President Barack Obama's campaign team was scared of him in the 2012 election.

"I thought I could have won last time," Santorum said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," while speaking about his new book, "Blue Collar Conservatives."

He went on to suggest he would have had a good chance against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in the Republican primary and against Obama in the general election, if he hadn't dropped out of the race.

"I asked one of the Obama minions who were running the campaign, 'Hey, why didn't you guys help me?' You know, I was up there battling Romney, and all these folks at MSNBC were saying, 'Wouldn't it be great if Santorum were the nominee?'" Santorum said.

"'Why didn't you help me? Why didn't you go out and bang me a little bit, hit me as being too conservative? Help me out a little bit?' And the consensus was, 'We didn't want you.' Because of this," he said, as he held up his book.

Santorum dropped out of the GOP race in April 2012.

At the time, he had taken a break to take care of his ailing daughter, Bella. Poll numbers were also showing him possibly losing in the upcoming primary in his home state of Pennsylvania.

However, on Tuesday, Santorum said on "Morning Joe" that just after he dropped out, Romney's team shared with him a poll that showed Santorum was down in the polls for Pennsylvanians who planned to vote midday, but had a large surge and was ahead 21 percentage points with voters hitting the polls after 5 p.m.

"When working people go to the polls," host Joe Scarborough said, filling in what Santorum was implying.

"This is it. And that's what the other side is scared to death of," Santorum said.

Santorum said earlier in the broadcast that family issues would be his main concern in deciding whether to run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016.

Before You Go

NASCAR Friends

Awkward Mitt Romney

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot