Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum said Sunday that the Charleston shootings were without question “an act of terrorism.”
Santorum denounced the mass shootings, which left nine dead at a historic black church, during an interview with ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz. The interview touched on the shootings, and the suspect, Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old with white supremacist leanings.
“I don’t think there’s any question when someone comes into a church for the reasons of racism and hate that they’re trying to terrorize people,” Santorum said. “I mean I don’t think there’s any question that this is an act of terrorism. And it’s as purely evil as we’ve seen in this country in a long, long time.”
Raddatz asked whether Santorum believed federal charges should be brought against Roof.
“Well, federal charges, state charges, there certainly plenty of charges here,” Santorum said. “Whether they’re federal or state charges really doesn’t matter. This young man is gonna get justice served on him.”
Raddatz asked Santorum about his views on the Confederate flag and pointed out that both Mitt Romney and 2016 GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush had publicly said the Confederate flag should be taken down.
When Santorum said it wasn’t up to the federal government, Raddatz fired back.
“You’re a candidate for President,” Raddatz said. “Do you not have a position on this at all?”
“I’m not a South Carolinian,” Santorum said. “And I think this is a decision —”
“It’s beyond South Carolina, don’t you think?” Raddatz interjected.
“I would say that these are decisions that should be made by people,” Santorum said. “You know, I don’t think the federal government or federal candidates should be making decisions on everything, and opining on everything. This is a decision that needs to be made here in South Carolina.”
Santorum said he had an opinion but refused to reveal his stance when Raddatz pressed.
Watch the video below, from ABC News:
h/t Mediaite
