Rick Santorum Calls Out ‘Wild’ Trump for Sabotaging Down-Ballot Republicans: ‘I Would Be Pretty Mad at Him’

CNN contributor and former Republican Senator Rick Santorum took a direct shot at President Donald Trump after the first presidential debate, saying he “ran wild” with an erratic, chaotic performance that would make it harder for downballot Republicans to win.

As a CNN panel discussed the fallout from the debate, which, according to two instant polls, was won by Democratic candidate Joe Biden, Santorum acknowledged that Trump’s spectacle could have negative ripple effects on the rest of his party.

Trump needed to change the dynamic tonight and I think he just reinforced the dynamic,” CNN analyst David Axelrod observed. “I have the sense that Donald Trump know he’s losing at some level and I think he’s angry about it and I think he indulged the anger.”

“If I was a Republican elected official running for office, I would be pretty mad at him,” Santorum said, calling out Trump. “He allowed himself — he indulged himself, to the detriment — to the woman that was quoted in Ohio. ‘I liked a lot of the things he said.’ I don’t think this is a center-of-left country. I think this is a center-of-right country. We can win with a center-of-right campaign, but you can’t when you have someone as caustic as what the president was in this debate. A lot of Republicans will be upset. We have a winning message, contrast and we had a candidate who didn’t do well in Biden, but Donald Trump ran wild.”

In response, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper let loose a comment with his tongue firmly planted in cheek: “It’s unusual because he’s known for being so restrained in indulging his appetites.”

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