MSNBC contributor: 'Rick Santorum is a homophobe and a bigot'

A regular MSNBC contributor says people should stop beating around the bush and just call Rick Santorum what he is.

In a discussion on Tuesday about who would win the Iowa caucuses, United Republic senior strategist Jimmy Williams lashed out at the Republican presidential candidate for being "a homophobe and a bigot."

"I find it utterly fascinating when white people think they know how black people think," Williams explained, referring to a recent controversy where Santorum said he didn't "want to make black people’s lives better by giving them" welfare.

"I find it absolutely fascinating when men think they know how to tell women what to do with their bodies," Williams added. "What in God's name are these people thinking?"

"This is taken completely out of context," conservative political commentator S.E. Cupp objected. "He talks about how conservative social policies are better for white people and for black people."

"I take great offense to that as a gay man making plenty of money," Williams interrupted. "I can't go raise a kid as well as a mom and a dad can?"

"That's not what he -- you're taking things out of context," Cupp insisted.

"That's what he says all the time!" Williams shot back. "Rick Santorum is a homophobe and a bigot. Let's call it what it is."

"He absolutely isn't!" Cupp exclaimed. "He talks about the economics of these policies and these social issues that we talk about. It's so theoretical without ties to anything concrete. That's what he does."

MSNBC host Alex Wagner pointed out that in his latest remarks, Santorum was "singling out black folks in particular."

"What it speaks to is a contention and an idea in the back of some people the Republican Party's heads, which is: 'The people taking from the makers are people of color and they don't deserve these handouts anymore,'" she said.

"Well, that is not Rick Santorum's point," Cupp replied. "I know him well. That is not his belief."

Speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity Monday night, Santorum said that he condemned "all forms of racism."

"[T]here’s nobody who has done more as a Republican in the United States Senate to bring African Americans into the party," he explained. "Go ask J.C. Watts. Ask Michael Steele. I’ve worked with historically black colleges. I’ve done a ton of stuff. This is just someone trying to cause trouble."

Watch this video from MSNBC's Now with Alex Wagner, uploaded Jan. 3, 2012.