Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) appeared to defend Kim Davis in Wednesday’s undercard Republican primary debate using a debunked account of how one of the victims of the 1999 Columbine massacre died.
CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Santorum was asked whether he agreed that Kim Davis should have been fired from her position as the clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky for refusing to comply with court orders to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Santorum drew a parallel between Davis and Cassie Bernall, whom some news outlets initially reported was shot to death at Columbine High School after she answered “yes” when asked if she believed in God. She became a poster child for young Christians, but it was later revealed that those initial reports were wrong.
“Sixteen years ago, this country was tremendously inspired by a young woman who faced a gunman in Columbine and was challenged about her faith and refused to deny God. We saw her as a hero,” Santorum said.
“Today, someone who refuses to defy a judge’s unconstitutional verdict is ridiculed and criticized, chastised, because she’s standing up and not denying her God and her faith,” he continued. “That is a huge difference in 16 years.”
So Santorum didn’t get the story quite right. Witnesses to the shooting and investigators later told “Columbine” author Dave Cullen that a different student who survived the massacre, Valeen Schnurr, had stated her faith in God before she was shot.
This post has been updated.
