John King, Rick Santorum Clash After The GOP Arizona Debate (VIDEO)

After Wednesday night's showdown during the Republican primary debate in Mesa, Arizona, GOP Candidate Rick Santorum and debate moderator John King clashed during CNN's post-debate coverage.

CNN's Gloria Borger interviewed Santorum and asked the candidate for his response to critics who say he spends "way too much time talking about divisive cultural issues."

Santorum inserted a critique of the media when he answered Borger's question. "People care about families. People care about what's happening to our society," he said. "But I do get these questions as John King tried to do on contraception and other things, that are sort of outrageous types of questions, and then the next question from the reporter is, 'why are you talking so much about social issues?'"

While moderating the debate, King asked all of the candidates about abortion, a question that was booed by the debate audience. "So they ask," Santorum continued. "And then they say 'oh, but you're talking about social issues all the time.' But I understand the game and I intend to stay on message.'"

Following Santorum's interview, CNN's Anderson Cooper, who was hosting the network's post-debate coverage, tossed to King who was about to interview GOP candidate Ron Paul. King immediately responded to Santorum's criticism. "And Anderson a response to Sen. Santorum quickly there," King said. "I understand the game as well and I don't think it's out of bounds to ask a presidential candidate about something they said during a presidential campaign, but that's how the process works."

View King's response below and Santorum's claims above.