Santorum Calls Contraception Debate A ‘Gotcha’ Media Trick (VIDEO)

“This is you guys playing sort of gotcha politics,” Santorum said. “Go to any of my almost now 1,000 town hall meetings, and I don’t think the word ‘contraception’ has ever come up. Let’s deal with reality instead of what media tries to do, which is pigeonhole you and tell a narrative.”

Scarborough took offense, and asked the former senator, “You have known me for a long time. Do you think I’m trying to pigeonhole you and stereotype you?”

Santorum didn’t back down: “Well, the fact that you continue to bring it up, yeah, sure. I don’t talk about this, Joe,” he said.

Santorum did bring up contraception in an interview Scarborough cited. In fall 2011, when Santorum was bringing up the rear in a crowded presidential field, Santorum gave an interview to the evangelical blog Caffeinated Thoughts in which he raised the issue.

“One of the things I will talk about that no president has talked about before is I think the dangers of contraception in this country,” Santorum said. “It’s not OK because it’s a license to do things in the sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be. They’re supposed to be within marriage, they are supposed to be for purposes that are, yes, conjugal, but also [inaudible], but also procreative.”

That interview, and other past statements on birth control, nudged the media into asking Santorum to clarify his stance. As Santorum rose to the front of the pack — and as Congress took on a contentious contraception coverage debate — the issue became more, not less relevant, Scarborough argued.