Jon Stewart Rips Rick Santorum Gaffes: 'How Is It That Mitt Romney Hasn't Crushed This Guy Already?' (VIDEO)

With the political sphere focusing on Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney facing off in the Michigan primary Tuesday, Jon Stewart used Monday night's "Daily Show" to examine both candidates' recent gaffes and controversial remarks in order to find out why neither candidate has secured the frontrunner position thus far.

Stewart focused mainly on Rick Santorum's latest follies, including his admission that President John F. Kennedy's 1960 speech on religious equality in the White House made him want to throw up. Despite the fact that JFK paved the way for Catholics like Santorum and people of other faiths to seek the Presidency, Santorum took the speech as a message that "people of faith have no role in the public square."

"How do you hear 'All faiths are welcome' as 'No faiths are welcome,'" Stewart wondered. "If it makes you feel any better, if JFK were alive today, knowing you were running for President would make him sh*t his pants."

But that's not the only baffling thing Santorum said as of late. Stewart also poked fun at him for calling President Obama "a snob" for saying everyone should go to college. Even better? When Santorum tried to clarify his remarks, he ended up almost directly quoting the President. That, plus the JFK remarks, prompted Stewart to introduce a new segment on the show: "How Is It That Mitt Romney Hasn't Crushed This Guy Already?"

To keep things fair, Stewart also took a look at Romney's latest gaffes, specifically his appearance at the Daytona 500, where he told a reporter he has friends that are NASCAR team owners when asked if he follows racing.

"Is there anything that comes out of this guy's mouth that couldn't come out of Thurston Howell III's mouth?" Stewart joked.

Watch the full clip above.

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Comments

[shadypotential]

02:09 AM on 03/02/2012

ha its always a fun time when people make fun of repubs. puts a smile on my face everytime

[janalyce]

10:59 PM on 03/01/2012

Let's see. No one should be educated, the government should be run by priests, no one should have sex except for procreation....and this is a "front runner" candidate for the presidency?

I just gringe at the thought of the incredulous laughter when this stuff plays in India or China or Japan or South Korea or Europe.

I mean, really. Facepalm.

[M Turner9900]

10:16 PM on 03/01/2012

Anyone else notice that santorum appeals mainly to rural voters in Michigan. They tend not have had higher education. I guess thats why he's against it. If we were all educated nobody would like him.

[janalyce]

11:06 PM on 03/01/2012

He has a law degree and an MBA. It's like his condemning putting a fetus at risk of abortion for any reason whatsover....though he and his wife did that. Or banging the drum for tort reform and slamming the idea of collecting damages for pain and suffering....after his wife sued a doctor for $500,000 because of what the Santorum's said was a bad spinal alignment, even though his wife's resulting medical bills totaled less than $20,000.

I think Santorum needs to read the line in the Bible about getting rid of the plank in your own eye before pointing out the mote in someone elses.

[El 84]

12:53 AM on 03/02/2012

Many MBA's and lawyers are corrupt.

[mkd2000]

09:28 PM on 03/01/2012

Did you anyone know that Snooki is pregnant?? Apparently the Huff Post thought it was important for us to know. I wander who she will tell me to vote for like all of these other celebrities turned politicians.

[El 84]

12:56 AM on 03/02/2012

No, a stupid America public thinks it's important to know. And it wasn't presented as important news. Like the rest of the media, there is a demand for stupid celebrity "news".
If it's so unimportant, why do you care? There's news coverage of all kinds here, genius.

[Smeagel4T]

07:48 PM on 03/01/2012

There was a time in this country when "going to college" was a value conservatives looked up to. The truth is, rational moderate conservatives still do. Clearly the closest option moderate conservatives have to vote for is President Obama.

[Smeagel4T]

07:45 PM on 03/01/2012

Ummm... HuffPo? I don't believe it's a "gaffe" when it is something the person actually meant to say.

[wayneoscarbry]

07:35 PM on 03/01/2012

TO JON STEWART...you said, "HOW IS IT THAT ROMNEY HAS NOT CRUSHED SANTORUM....THIS IS EASY TO ANSWER....THIS IS NOT ROMNEY'S WAY. RONALD REAGAN WOULD BE PROUD OF ROMNEY!!

[janalyce]

11:07 PM on 03/01/2012

Ronald Reagan would despise the whole clown show that has been the Republican primary.

[El 84]

01:00 AM on 03/02/2012

That isn't saying much. That caps button should be over on the left side of your keyboard, BTW.
Oh, and your answer's wrong, too. Romney isn't capable of it, that's why it isn't his way. In this case, "crush" refers to campaigning, votes, debates, rebuttals, and so on. Oh, yeah. If you hit the exclamation point thingy twice, you wind up with two exclamation points. It's sometimes referred to as "substitute for rationale". Go gettum, brainy.

[Red State Liberal]

06:29 PM on 03/01/2012

I think it speaks to the weakness of Mitt Romney that Rick Santorum is even part of the conversation going into Super Tuesday.

[El 84]

01:01 AM on 03/02/2012

Yeah, that's what I meant. Hope NeoScary reads this.

[justakid]

06:20 PM on 03/01/2012

Santorum is an extremist.
How he has held on this long and done this well is not surprising....about half of Republicans are extremist also.
Government thugs flogging people in the street if they appear to be "fornicators".. No birth control, the church needs all of those children to keep priest happy.
Give our liberties back to the control of the churches our founding fathers fled.

[Ghostofthe past]

06:07 PM on 03/01/2012

Hey Jon! How about Obama's five more yearsand 57 states, etc.

[dave4248]

03:04 AM on 03/02/2012

Leave Obama alone now. He's a total genius and i have the proof:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv_ms93dzX4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbyhFK5sf2w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4-AKcH3eC8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxXh6ZWfbDg

Actually, he states six years in one of the above videos. I am still waiting for someone to post the video of the intercontinental railroad Obama spoke of. Maybe he saw it on the west coast and everybody is searching the Atlantic.

[smashoffice]

05:34 PM on 03/01/2012

That's funny. I watched the clip of the speech that Santorum is complaining about. Obama didn't just mention college; he also pointed out technical school, other secondardy education, etc. - the same things that Santorum was championing.

[SkinnerianBox]

06:55 PM on 03/01/2012

Regarding the speaking style change - fair enough, but I haven't seen a candidate in 4 decades who doesn't do this and I've followed many. It's no different than all the candidates wearing jeans or a fannel shirt or a cowboy hat anytime they're on a trip to the midwest or rural western states. And frankly, it's no more disingenous than President George W. Bush clearing brush on his vacations.

[jimmybr]

08:11 PM on 03/01/2012

When has anyone attacked "Catholic beliefs"? No one has said that Catholics have to use birth control. The debate was whether the Catholic Institutional Leadership (all 'celibate' men) can dictate policy to limit access of both Catholics and Non-Catholics employed by Church related organizations from accessing a medical service provided to other citizens. Since the statistics show that 98% of Catholic women have used birth control during their adult life, I'd say that while opposition to birth control may be a Catholic belief, it is not a catholic one!

And, since when is speaking to people at a level and in a style that they understand and to which they relate a bad thing? I certainly want my doctor to speak to me in language I understand - and the same goes for my president!

[kill the extremists]

09:05 AM on 03/02/2012

the argument was about forcing a religious organization to pay for services that are against the teachings of their religion. That's ALL it was about. I agree with all of your points on how un-Catholic many catholics are......but I still don't see how that has anything to do with the basic argument about government interference in religion.

As for pandering to different groups a candidate is speaking to, I also agree with you that it happens all the time and isn't necessarily bad, even though it is fake. My issue was with how it's been portrayed that if you DON'T act fake, that is somehow a bad thing......such a Romney saying his wife has a couple of cadillacs.....they have 2 main homes and she keeps a car at each one. Why is telling the truth considered so stupid and hurtful to your campaign? Same thing with the "I have friends who are NASCAR team owners" comment.....I would expect him to have those kinds of friends (President Obama has lots of successful friends too). Again, why is it better to be a manipulative liar who tries to trick people into thinking he is something he isn't, deemed to be superior conduct than being who you are?

[corkey Dickey]

05:24 PM on 03/01/2012

WHILE MR. SANTORUM HAS 3 DEGREES IT DIDN'T KEEP HIM FROM BEING ON THE 2006 LIST OF MOST CORRUPT POLITICIANS IN D.C.I GUESS HIS WIFES DEGREE IS A WASTE OF MONEY AS SHE IS TO STAY HOME AND HAVE BABIES.HE WILL GIVE OBAMA A EASY WIN IF HE IS THE NOMINEE

[El 84]

01:03 AM on 03/02/2012

Good point, but ditto the comments on the caps. The button is on the left side of your keyboard.

[jjfarino]

05:22 PM on 03/01/2012

While I despise Santorum and every other politician Democrat or Republican I have to say that John Stewart is simply unwatchable. He was once kind of funny until he started taking himself seriously, he's such an idiot he's the liberal version of Rush Limbaugh.

[bobby saget]

04:46 PM on 03/01/2012

Watch some kid in walmart fart in rick santorums face. Here's the link. http://youtu.be/n9OPcDdEbkk