Romney Campaign Press Release - Rick Santorum Wasn't Always this Angry

Watch New Video Of Santorum Endorsing Romney

"In a spectacular display of desperation ahead of the Illinois primary, Rick Santorum has once again shown a complete disregard for the truth. He wasn't always this angry, of course. Back in 2008, Rick Santorum promoted Mitt Romney's conservative credentials when he endorsed his candidacy for president. But now, Senator Santorum is lashing out in order to distract from the fact that he is an economic lightweight. We don't need another former senator with no job creation experience in the White House. We have that president now." —Gail Gitcho, Romney Communications Director

RICK SANTORUM: TODAY'S FALSEHOODS & EXAGGERATIONS

Santorum Knowingly Misrepresented The Truth During His Angry Interview On ABC's "This Week":

FALSEHOOD #1: Santorum Falsely Attacked Governor Romney On Massachusetts Health Reform. SANTORUM: "I would love to have a head to head debate with Governor Romney the idea for example, he pushes back and says Romneycare is nothing like Obamacare and he never advocated for it but of course he did in op-eds as well as on television programs." (ABC's "This Week," 3/18/12)

• THE TRUTH: The Washington Post: "Romney Has Been Consistent In Saying That He Would Apply A State-Based Approach To Health Care ... He Has Never Advocated Or Supported A Federal Mandate." "Romney has been consistent in saying that he would apply a state-based approach to health care. He has said the individual mandate worked well for Massachusetts, he may have even predicted that most other states would eventually adopt it, but he has never advocated or supported a federal mandate — as contained in the president's law. This alone would earn the DNC at least three Pinocchios, but we were also disturbed by the manipulative editing in this ad. There is no excuse for the DNC to simply ignore, in the same 2008 debate, Romney's firm reaffirmation that he preferred a federalist approach." (Glenn Kessler, "Mitt Romney And The Individual Mandate: A Highly Misleading DNC Ad," The Washington Post, 3/12/12)

FALSEHOOD #2: Santorum Falsely Attacked Governor Romney On Cap And Trade. SANTORUM: "On those issues, there clearly isn't. And as you know, Jonathan, those were the issues that really spurred our victory in 2010 was this idea of government mandates and control of the economy and the bailouts and the attempt to try to take over the energy use in our country through cap and trade, and of course, the successful takeover of the economy, Obamacare, Governor Romney is on the same page as Barack Obama on all of these issues." (ABC's "This Week," 3/18/12)

• THE TRUTH: PolitiFact Rated Santorum's Cap-And-Trade Claims As "False." "When he could have signed it into law, he declined. And more recently, Romney has repeatedly said he's opposed to it. And when asked for evidence of Romney's support for cap and trade, the Santorum campaign failed to produce any. We rate the claim False." ("Says Mitt Romney Supports Cap And Trade," PolitiFact.com,  2/14/12)

FALSEHOOD #3: Santorum Falsely Attacked Governor Romney For Funding A Planned Parenthood Clinic. SANTORUM: "And in fact, a lot of the criticisms that he's leveling against me are things that he himself has done, and in fact far worse, like ... funding abortion clinics while he was governor of Massachusetts with taxpayer dollars." (ABC's "This Week," 3/18/12)

• THE TRUTH: Governor Romney Did Not Approve Of Any Such Clinic. "Asked about the $5 million financial deal yesterday, the Romney campaign said the former governor was not aware it was under consideration when Planned Parenthood won preliminary approval in November 2006. Romney repeatedly used the power of his office while governor to advance socially conservative positions, including restricting stem cell research, pushing abstinence-only sex education in schools, and vetoing a bill to increase access to emergency contraception in hospitals. In the case of the abortion clinic funding deal, the Republican candidate's spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said Romney would have attempted to block it - if he had known about it. ... In a statement to the Globe, Kimball said that it was his policy not to brief the governor's office on initial approval of loans. 'I did not brief the governor's office on these initial reviews,' he said." (Frank Phillips, "Romney Officials Approved Clinic Loan," The Boston Globe, 12/29/07)

FALSEHOOD #4: Santorum Claimed His Tax Plan Is "Bold." SANTORUM: "Ours is bold. They called our plan 'supply-side economics for the working man' because we talk about getting jobs for everybody in our economy.  Getting manufacturing jobs back here, growing the energy sector." (ABC's "This Week," 3/18/12)

• THE TRUTH: The Tax Foundation's Will McBride On Santorum's Tax Plan: "May Be The Worst Idea Of Any Of The Republican Candidates." "[Santorum's plan] may be the worst idea of any of the Republican candidates. ... No other candidate has proposed such a grossly unfair system." (Bernie Becker, "Some Conservatives See Santorum's Tax Plan As 'Welfare In Disguise'," The Hill, 1/7/12)