Bush Sees Embattled Santorum as 'Inclusive Man'
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House came to the defense of embattled Republican Sen. Rick Santorum (news, bio, voting record) on Friday, praising his job performance and pronouncing him "an inclusive man" despite comments he made equating homosexuality to bigamy, polygamy, incest and adultery.
The comments by the senator from Pennsylvania prompted calls for him to resign as chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, the No. 3 job in the party's leadership.
"It's up to individual senators, of course, to make decisions about their leadership post," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) told reporters in his first substantive remarks about the controversy.
"But the president believes that the senator is an inclusive man. ... The president has confidence in Senator Santorum and thinks he's doing a good job as senator -- including in his leadership post," he added.
The Human Rights Campaign, the largest national lesbian and gay rights political organization, criticized the White House for defending the senator.
"We strongly take issue with the president and his assertion that Senator Santorum is in any way inclusive of this country's gay community. If this is how the president defines inclusion, then it clearly calls into question the depth of compassion in his conservatism," said the organization's executive director, Elizabeth Birch.
The flap over Santorum comes four months after Sen. Trent Lott (news, bio, voting record) of Mississippi was forced to step down as Senate Republican leader for racially charged remarks.
In an interview with the Associated Press published on Monday, Santorum discussed a Texas sodomy law now being challenged before the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites).
"If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual (gay) sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery," Santorum was quoted as saying. "You have the right to anything."
The court is considering whether the Texas law violates privacy rights and unfairly targets same-sex couples or if the state has a legitimate interest in setting moral standards (news - web sites).
His comments ignited a firestorm of criticism from gay rights groups.
The controversy highlights the dilemma politicians face when trying to follow teachings of their religion while making public policy for a country with diverse religious beliefs.
Religious conservatives defended Santorum, a Roman Catholic, saying he made a distinction between his objections to homosexual acts and his acceptance of homosexuals as individuals, which is in line with church teachings.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee called on Santorum to step down as chairman of the Republican Conference. A spokesman for the committee called his comments "divisive, hurtful and reckless."
In an interview with the Fox news channel, Santorum said he would not step down.
"I didn't say anything that needs to be apologized for," Santorum said. "I talk a lot about this issue of activism in the courts. I talk about the issue of privacy and the extension of the right of privacy to a variety of different areas that I think would be injurious to our country."
Many Republicans supported him and Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist called him "a consistent voice for inclusion."