Anti-gay Rick Santorum isn’t invited to his own party’s Presidential debate
Homophobic Presidential wannabe Rick Santorum is among candidates to be snubbed from the first Republican Presidential debate – because there isn’t enough room on stage.
As the Republican party struggles to find a unified voice to oppose presumed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, a record number have thrown their hat in the ring to run for President.
There are now 17 Republicans in the running: Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, John Kasich, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Rick Perry, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, Donald Trump, Jim Gilmore, and Scott Walker.
However, Fox News was forced to cut seven of the candidates from its upcoming televised debate – because it only had allotted time and space for seven on stage.
It confirmed the line-up based on polling – and Santorum, who is known for his extreme anti-gay views, was cut along with Rick Perry and Bobby Jindal – who both also strongly oppose LGBT rights.
The sole woman in the race, Carly Fiorina, was also cut – along with Lindsey Graham, George Pataki and Jim Gilmore.
It likely spells the end of Santorum’s chances, given his campaign has failed to pick up any of the momentum he did on his previous run for President in 2012.
Following the Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage, Santorum ditched his belief that states should be able to decide their own marriage laws – and he now wants to void gay marriages in all 50 states.
He claimed that same-sex couples getting married in the US will “disrupt the foundation of the world”, and believes homosexuality can be cured.
Ranting about the decision, Santorum’s comms director said: “The idea that they have left out the runner-up for the 2012 nomination, the former four-term governor of Texas, the governor of Louisiana, the first female Fortune 50 CEO, and the three-term Senator from South Carolina due to polling seven months before a single vote is cast is preposterous,
“While Fox is taking a lot of heat, the RNC deserves as much blame for sanctioning this process. They should not be picking winners and losers. That’s the job of the voters.”
There will still be a number of extreme anti-gay voices in the debate, however – Ben Carson claims equality is a “Marxist plot”, Mike Huckabee ‘jokes’ that trans people want to spy on teenage girls in the shower, and Ted Cruz is still very upset people are even talking about gay rights.
