Santorum: Muslim Community Responsible For ‘A Lot’ Of Anti-Semitism (VIDEO)

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) pinned “a lot” of anti-Semitism in America on Muslims Tuesday.

“If you look at the fact of the people who are responsible for a lot of this anti-Semitism that we’re seeing, a lot of it is coming from the pro-Palestinian, or Muslim community,” he said on CNN.

Santorum, now a paid contributor to CNN, was commenting on the Trump administration’s muted (at the time) response to a recent wave of bomb threats against Jewish community centers nationwide. Over the weekend, dozens of tombstones in a Jewish cemetery in Missouri were also vandalized.

CNN’s Chris Cuomo asked Santorum why Trump hadn’t spoken out more forcefully against anti-Semitism. Cuomo also referenced a claim from Santorum earlier in the discussion that anti-Semitism was on the rise in college campuses.

“Even your case about the anti-Semitism on college campuses. He hasn’t said anything about that either. But why not when it’s such a lay up to do just what Hillary Clinton just did? You throw out a tweet saying this is disgusting, we hate it. I won’t tolerate it. If I find the people who did it, I will punish them?” Cuomo said.

“If you look at the fact of the people who are responsible for a lot of this anti-Semitism that we’re seeing, I hate to say it, a lot of it is coming from the pro-Palestinian, or Muslim community. So let’s lay out that fact,” Santorum responded.

Cuomo stopped him: “I don’t know that that’s a fact, by the way. I don’t know that that’s a fact. You have white haters, historically, who target the Jews in this country,” he said.

“That’s not what is going on on college campuses, Chris, white haters,” Santorum said. “Let’s tell the truth about this.”

“We’re talking about cemeteries and JCC centers, not college campuses,” CNN contributor Christine Quinn said.

Cuomo added: “You are mixing, but you know what? I am OK with you mixing also, because it all goes under the same umbrella of these things to be dismissed. But I will tell you what, you guys have no problem going after Muslims for things they don’t do, let alone what they do do. So why doesn’t Trump go after the Muslims who are doing this on college campuses against the Jews?”

“I am for him doing that. I think he should,” Santorum said.

In a later exchange with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Santorum said that anti-Semitism on college campuses was “being perpetrated not just by the pro-Palestinian groups on college campuses, but also from Progressive groups.”

He added later: “To me this is an area that really deserves some focus, and can actually substantiate a lot of the concerns that he has raised about, you know, what is going on with religious tolerance in this country, with religious freedom in this country, and the role that Muslims are playing on college campuses to stifle opposition voices.”

Watch the exchange below via CNN:

This post has been updated.