Republican presidential hopeful and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum told a crowd in Des Moines, Iowa on Tuesday that President Barack Obama needs to “man up” and take responsibility for his actions.
He accused the president of “routinely dividing America,” the Des Moines Register reports, and said that Obama lays blame on “just about everybody except himself for the problems of America, which includes just about every one of you.”
“If you want to be president, man up and be president,” Santorum barked.
He then promised to confine attacks on the president to the campaign trail, pledging that if elected, he would “only mention Obama’s name in a respectful way.”
Santorum was speaking to students at Des Moines Christian School in the final hours before the caucuses Tuesday evening. He told students that their generation would be the most affected by the results of November’s election.
In recent days, Santorum has seen a surge of momentum in the state, owing largely to endorsements from influential social conservatives. Polls in recent days have found him in the top three, close behind Romney and Ron Paul. It remains to be seen if the former senator can ride this momentum to a win in the caucuses.