Santorum calls Occupy movement intolerant as protestors interrupt him

By: Rebecca Kaplan
Topics: Campaign 2012

TACOMA, Wash. - Rick Santorum said on Monday that the Occupy movement represents "true intolerance" after he was faced with a handful of angry protestors who shouted through his entire event, ultimately resulting in the arrest of three of them.

"I think it's really important for you to understand what this radical element represents. Because what they represent is true intolerance," the former Pennsylvania senator said after two protestors were handcuffed and dragged away.

He cited a recent decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that California's same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional to further paint the group as intolerant. "What they said was that anybody who disagreed with them were irrational and the only reason they could possibly agree is they were a hater or a bigot," he said. "Now I gotta tell you, I don't agree with these people but I respect their opportunity to be able to have a different point of view and I don't think they're a hater or a bigot because they disagree with me."

A third protestor was later arrested after she threw glitter on Santorum as he was shaking hands with the crowd. Tacoma Police Sgt. Paul Jagodinski estimated that three people were arrested altogether, though the department did not immediately return calls for comment.

But the presence of the protestors didn't ruffle the candidate as he tried to speak over the shouting below him and then calmly observed the arrests. Later in his speech, as the shouts continued, he even tried to appeal to the protestors.

"I understand their frustration," he said. "For three years they haven't been able to find work, they have a president who doesn't care about them."

Special Section: Campaign 2012

He blasted President Obama for dividing the country and called his fiscal 2013 budget proposal, released Monday, "another tax-the-rich scheme."

The audience of a few hundred people at an outdoor amphitheater, was supportive of Santorum and tried to shout down the protestors. He appealed to them to be the "momentum changer" during the Washington caucuses on March 3, just before the all-important Super Tuesday states.

"Your caucus, your voice will speak very loudly about where the race is heading into these big Super Tuesday primaries. Your caucus across this state can have a huge impact on who the Republican nominee will be so I ask each and every one of you to do your duty, to live up to your honor, to come forward and to go to those caucuses on Saturday morning," he implored the crowd.

Rebecca Kaplan
Rebecca Kaplan covers the 2012 presidential campaign for CBS News and National Journal.
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by PhotoOp February 16, 2012 6:40 PM EST: Astonishing that Santorum would anyone else intolerant as he travels the country advocating his bible as our de-facto constitution.; Reply to this comment


by mountainstates1 February 16, 2012 11:30 AM EST: Santorum calling another group "intolerant"? Now that's rich!! ha!; Reply to this comment


by norcalruss February 15, 2012 7:11 PM EST: Santorum calls Occupy movement intolerant as protestors interrupt him
++++++++++++++++++++
Isn't that a little like the pot calling the kettle black? Righteous Rick Saint-boredom is a bible-thumping bigot to the third degree and sounds like he belongs in the Stone Age.; Reply to this comment


by nadelio February 15, 2012 7:06 PM EST: Gosh, don't I like people here. The only problem, they post so much it's impossible to read it all.
OK, the spring is coming inevitably, and guess what???
OCCUPY, no matter what they say. Figure it out for yourself!!!!; Reply to this comment

by noloyalisti February 15, 2012 2:45 PM EST

Occupy Together and The 99% are the only hope America has left. If we want to continue the Arab Spring here (people seem to think that it is OK there to rise up against tyrants), we must seize the moment. A lot op people I know are going to do this when the time is ripe (very soon).

Our country has been taken over by giant corporations and the Top 1% (with help from self-hating Americans, mostly conservative). What they have done is no sustainable and they will lose. They will lose, it is inevitable. The longer we take to strike and take them down, the uglier it will get, like in Syria and in Israel.

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by Overruled1 February 15, 2012 6:21 PM EST: I've decided to join the fight, but as I have a job, can only donate time and some money when I can.


by Overruled1 February 15, 2012 6:24 PM EST: Santorum said Obama divided the nation. NO, it was the Republicans with outragous bills that did that during the Bush administration, it was corporate lobbyists who corrupted politicians, it was the 1% who have earned 2 times more money in the last 30 years, while the middle class flounder with no raise in all that time since Reagan.


by touch128 February 15, 2012 12:55 AM EST: Well if he can't take a little rebbing, then how can he be the President? That is nothing compared what he will face if he wins the nomination. Man he would melt down if were called some of the names that the President has been called.; Reply to this comment


by userjohna February 14, 2012 10:16 PM EST: Participation at primaries and caucuses as a percentage of eligible participants has been pathetic. Fr. Santorium urging won't have much effect. Check it out. The media only gives percentage of those that participated. Candidates are lackluster politicians hammering each other to small pieces to illustrate skills at leading a country. They think leading is grabbing the elephant by the tail and pulling. Voters watch out below.; Reply to this comment

by cam2012 February 14, 2012 7:54 PM EST

We are closing schools, laying people off. Families are being foreclosed on and being put out in the streets. And all Santorum, running for President can talk about is who is Gay. We need to start looking at what is best for the country. We are not in high school any more. Hello!!! Yes it is a good way to raise money. But I think the Republicans have a "gay agenda", more than the gay community has. They have nothing to say, so they go for the gay! It will be a dark day for ALL of us if this man wins. It is not just a Gay thing; Santorum has frequently stated that he does not believe a "right to privacy" exists under the Constitution, even within marriage. The boy and girl kind!

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by ArnoldLayne2 February 14, 2012 9:28 PM EST: cam you are a liar straight out. That's not what he talks about unless prodded or asked.


by LucasTm February 14, 2012 10:22 PM EST: I agree with you,, The right wing Religious agenda is Just wrong.
They would Take our freedom away In the name of GOD.

GOD wants you to keep his name out of Politics.

I think Rick is a good man at heart, but The political corruption is already starting. He would seek to Scare us in to
Giving up our freedom. Divide Us with Hate.

If you really want to spread the good word it it out of politics.
otherwise you will have people like this Drag his name in the mud just to gain power.

by DebbieCorona February 14, 2012 7:34 PM EST

Occupy is intolerant? LOL Santorum you are a real piece of work. Talk about intolerant.

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by ArnoldLayne2 February 14, 2012 9:29 PM EST: Occupy and Liberals in general are intolerant of speech they disagree with. Just watch any conservative try to visit a college campus to speak - the 'kids' are pathetic and yell down the speaker.


by StenDeadio February 15, 2012 8:37 AM EST: A conservative speaking at a college is like a KKK Grand Dragon speaking at an NAACP rally. Conservatives despise education and engage in efforts to dumb down society all the time. Why would anyone seeking knowledge and enlightenment want to hear from a regressive dolt who wants them to ignore facts and evidence and instead adopt a dogma designed to engender total submission to an ancient arbitrary set of rules with ZERO provenance?
Oh, sorry, Conservatives...didn't mean to use so many 'elitist' words. Ask your mommy what they mean, even though she won't know either.

by justamaz February 14, 2012 7:34 PM EST

At least the Tea Party has an agenda that benefits the U.S. The OWS agenda, if you can figure it out, will most likely have us burning like Greece.

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by McDuderson February 14, 2012 8:37 PM EST: Their agenda is to end unlimited monetary donations for political causes because it causes corruption. That's not a really dangerous view.