Santorum can't find courage to defend McCain: 'It's very clear McCain didn't have a lot of respect for Trump'

Former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum (PA) on Monday sympathized with President Donald Trump, who declined to release a statement on the death of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

During a panel discussion on CNN, guest host Erica Hill noted that Trump had chosen to tweet about McCain's death instead of releasing a "broader statement" that had been prepared by White House staff.

"The tweet was a gracious tweet," Santorum replied. "Could it and should it have been more? Probably. I agree it's a difficult situation."

"There was certainly a lot of contention between the two men," he continued. "And frankly, it was very clear that John McCain didn't have a whole lot of respect for President Trump. And that's a hard thing for this president to get over."

Santorum added that Trump "should have... been a little more gracious" in his reaction to McCain's death.

Watch the video below from CNN.