Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) isn’t sure Republicans care as much about the poor as Democrats do because he doesn’t hear them talking about poverty as much.
“Well people ask me if Republicans care as much about the poor as Democrats do. I’m not sure we do,” Santorum said Monday. “I’m not sure we do and the reason I’m not sure we do is because I don’t hear us talking about them very often and if you really cared you’d talk about the problems they had.”
Santorum’s comments come as Democrats continue to push for a minimum wage increase and Republicans argue that such a hike would actually kill jobs rather than create them and help the poorest Americans. Democrats plan to hold a vote on raising the minimum wage in the Senate on Wednesday.
A minimum wage hike will hurt more people than it helps. Let’s address poverty and unemployment with real solutions. http://t.co/LGaR7q9mWY
— Speaker John Boehner (@SpeakerBoehner) April 30, 2014
Santorum’s comments also fall in line with his approach among potential presidential candidates. Santorum, who ran for president in 2012, has tried to style himself as the Republican candidate who can best relate to blue-collar Americans.
Watch the video of Santorum here.