Trump-supporting CNN contributor Rick Santorum on Tuesday admitted that President Donald Trump likely told former national security adviser John Bolton that he was extorting the Ukrainian government to push it to investigate his political opponents -- but then insisted that the president didn't really mean it.
While discussing the latest reported revelations from Bolton's upcoming book, Santorum said he's inclined to believe that Bolton is telling the truth.
"I tend to believe that the president probably said this to John Bolton," he conceded. "And it goes back to the things we talk about all the time -- the president says lots of different things on both sides of the issues. I hear it all the time here -- well, the president is so chaotic, he says things he doesn't mean! And so, uh, it's not surprising to me that he would, maybe, in a fit, say something like this to John Bolton."
Santorum then argued that no one should hold this against the president because the extortion plot failed.
"They didn't do it, ultimately the money was released and everything with the relationship with the Ukraine has actually been very positive," he said. "And even if he did do it... Republicans don't care!"
Watch the video below.
A master class in pathetic spinning by Rick Santorum Santorum: Trump probably said what Bolton claims, but he says… https://t.co/kDDdw07GVF— Lis Power (@Lis Power) 1580233830.0
