Former Gov. Rick Santorum (R-PA) said he is “disgusted” by the RNC’s use of donor money at a bondage-themed strip club, adding that regardless of what Chairman Michael Steele knew about the expenses, there is an “absence of leadership at the RNC.”
At a lunch hosted by the local Republican Party in Iowa yesterday, Santorum was asked about the recent firestorm over the RNC’s expenditures at a faux-lesbian bondage-themed strip club.
Santorum replied: “There is no excuse for people’s contributions to the RNC to go to pay for this behavior.”
“Frankly,” he added, “I’m disgusted by it.”
According to the RNC, Steele had no knowledge of the expenditures, but that didn’t stop Santorum: “As a leader, you set the tone for your organization. If somebody who worked for my organization did something like this, they would be out of a job.”
He continued:
It’s not just that this happened, it’s that someone saw this reimbursement and then approved of it. Chairman Steele might not have had personal knowledge about this sort of activity, but if that’s the case, there is an absence of leadership at the RNC.
This is Santorum’s third visit to Iowa in the last six months, part of what may be the beginnings of a run for President in 2012.
