Santorum: The Ninth Circuit thinks I'm a bigot

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Wednesday lashed out at the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for going against "four thousand years of human history" to strike down California's ban on same sex marriage.

Speaking to religious conservatives at a church in McKinney, Texas, the candidate asserted that the court believed that he and other opponents of marriage equality were filled with "Irrational hatred and bigotry."

"The Ninth Circuit decision yesterday said that marriage -- if you believe in traditional marriage -- the only reason that you can possibly believe that is because you are a bigot," Santorum explained. "Your belief of marriage between a man and a woman is purely irrational based on hatred and bigotry. That's what they just wrote. Four thousand years of human history. Irrational hatred and bigotry toward a group of people is the only reason you can be for marriage between a man and a woman."

Following the decision on Tuesday that found California's Proposition 8 unconstitutional, the former Pennsylvania senator released a statement opposing the ruling.

"Today's decision by the 9th Circuit is another in a long line of radical activist rulings by this rogue circuit - and it is precisely why I have called for that circuit to be abolished and split up," the statement said. "Marriage is defined and has always been defined as 'one man and one woman.' We simply cannot allow 50 different definitions of marriage."

Watch this video from CNN, uploaded by Think Progress on Feb. 8, 2012.

(H/T: Towleroad)