Politics

Rick Santorum Explains How Biden’s ‘Southern Firewall’ Could Blow Up In His Face

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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Former Republican Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum explained Sunday how former Vice President Joe Biden’s reliance on southern victories could actually hurt him.

Santorum made the comments during a panel discussion on CNN’s “State of the Union,” saying that Biden was relying on primary wins in states that would likely not prove competitive for Democrats once the general election was underway. (RELATED: Rick Santorum Says Biden ‘Benefited’ From His Own Bad Debate Performances)

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The panel, led by host Jake Tapper, was responding to Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ decisive victory in Nevada.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg attacked Sanders directly as the caucus results came in, saying, “Senator Sanders believes in an inflexible ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats.”

“If Bernie Sanders wants to be the nominee, he cannot be swept throughout the south. That is not going to bode well going into the contested convention, so we will have to see how well he can do, and see how well he can do with the black voters,” Bakari Sellers said.

Santorum responded with the counterpoint that the southern states Sanders stood to lose in the south were states he’d also likely lose in the general, making them far less relevant.

“The argument there is if I’m a Democrat, and well, we are going to lose the south in the general election,” Santorum said, adding, “But if I’m the Sanders’ campaign, I am saying that I can win in Pennsylvania and win in Michigan and win in the states where I’m going to win in the Democratic primary and we’re not going to win Alabama, we’re not going to win South Carolina, so the fact that Joe Biden can win there is really of no consequence.”