Rick Santorum pointedly blames GOP election losses on Trump

Democrats swept elections across the country Tuesday, notably beating GOP candidates in New Jersey and Virginia's gubernatorial races. And Rick Santorum thinks it's President Trump's fault.

The former Republican senator and presidential candidate refused to blame GOP candidate Ed Gillespie for his loss in Virginia's race for governor. Instead, Santorum took the post-election shame Trump piled on Gillespie and shifted it back on the president.

"I think the bottom line is Donald Trump is not delivering on what he said he was going to deliver on, and that's the problem," Santorum said on CNN. "And he needs to deliver. And if there's a message for Republicans, they better get that message and they better start passing stuff and looking like they can govern."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Trump consistently backed Gillespie during his campaign, tweeting out support and even recording a robocall to endorse the candidate. But when asked if Trump could've changed the election results by visiting Virginia, Santorum shook his head.

"I think the fundamental issue here is what's going on in the country, which base was motivated," Santorum said. "And right now, I think it's clear … the Democrats were motivated."

You can watch Santorum's entire passionate response below. Kathryn Krawczyk