CNN host Chris Cuomo on Wednesday confronted former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) over evangelical support for President Trump despite allegations against Trump of past affairs.
Cuomo asked Santorum in an interview to explain the “apparent hypocrisy” from other evangelicals who are standing by Trump when they ripped former President Clinton for his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
“They seem to just be choosing policy over piety all of a sudden,” Cuomo said.
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The CNN host noted that Trump is locked in a heated legal battle with adult-film star Stormy Daniels over measures taken to cover up an alleged affair she claims took place years ago, before he took office.
Santorum said that Christians make mistakes, but argued Americans should be more concerned about how they handle policy issues.
“You were in there during the Clinton years. This was not what was being said by this voting bloc then,” Cuomo fired back.
“This was not what was being said by you back then,” Cuomo continued. “You called for Clinton to resign because he was going to be impeached and Lewinsky was too big a cloud over everything and he had to go.”
“When it suits the politics, the piety is great. And when it doesn’t suit the politics, the piety is easily excused. And that is hypocrisy.”
Santorum responded by asking where the “Me Too” movement aimed at exposing sexual misconduct was “when Bill Clinton was doing this.”
“I have not been any apologist for Donald Trump’s actions when they go out of bounds,” Santorum said.
“But you’re not going out of your way to talk about him with these affairs, either,” Cuomo responded. “Like the way you did with Bill Clinton.”
Clinton was impeached for lying under oath about his affair, Santorum noted, arguing the legality of the Daniels case is what should be important.
The moral distinction is an issue between Trump and God, Santorum said.
“Isn’t that convenient?” Cuomo asked. “Because they judge things that are between man and God all the time when it suits them.”
Santorum said evangelicals judge actions, not the person.
“The president’s actions on many occasions are reprehensible and I certainly disagree with things the president has done,” Santorum said.
“I just feel if you had put a ‘D’ next to his name instead of an ‘R,’ there would be a lot of loud and proud people talking about it,” Cuomo remarked.