Sarah Palin On Rick Santorum: I’ll Let His Wife Call Him A Knuckle Dragging Neanderthal

Sarah Palin and Rick Santorum have gotten into a bit of a juvenile street fight:

(CNN) – Sarah Palin is mixing it up with potential rival Rick Santorum, suggesting the former Pennsylvania senator and presidential hopeful is a “knuckle-dragging Neanderthal.”

The eyebrow-raising slap came in response to Santorum’s recent comments that Palin was likely skipping an annual gathering of conservatives in Washington this weekend because of other “business opportunities” and her mothering responsibilities.

“I don’t live in Alaska and I’m not the mother to all these kids and I don’t have other responsibilities that she has,” Santorum told conservative online radio host S.E. Cupp in comments that some commentators called sexist.

“Just because I’m a mom that does not mean that I didn’t want to be there,” Palin responded on Fox News Wednesday night. “I’m the proud mother of five…my kids don’t hold me back from attending a conference.”

“I will not call him the knuckle-dragging Neanderthal,” Palin continued. “I’ll let his wife call him that instead.”

Sarah, Rick. Grow up, or get out of the adult pool.

FILED UNDER: 2006 Election, 2012 Election, US Politics, , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Alex Knapp says:

    This is twice in one day I’ve liked something that Sarah Palin said. Some kind of record, I think.

  2. Herb says:

    Wow…..Palin should have watched the interview. Santorum’s comments look much worse in print than they sounded in person. It sounded to me that he was being rather gracious.

    From Santorum’s Twitter stream:

    “This article is garbage.All I said was- she is VERY busy, PERIOD. Reporter trying to create something out of nothing”

    Yep….and success!

  3. Franklin says:

    Santorum’s comments look much worse in print than they sounded in person.

    They didn’t even look that bad in print. To me it read as if he were sucking up to her. Which is strange because I figured he usually sucked something else (based on his phony gay-bashing).

  4. Gustopher says:

    Is Sarah Palin just toying with us on some kind of fake “Reasonable Day”?

    Santorum’s comments suggest that he expects the mother to always be the primary caregiver, and that the mother should always put the kids first. I don’t know how the Palins organize the child-rearing tasks in their marriage, but I’m pretty sure Todd could cover for a couple of days if she wanted/needed to go to CPAC.

  5. legion says:

    I’m with Alex – twice in one day? My head is like to spin right off my neck…

  6. TG Chicago says:

    Hard to say for sure whether Santorum’s comment was sexist, but perhaps he can learn something from this: if you routinely show that you’re a backward ignoramus, then when you make comments that can be interpreted as possibly backward and ignorant, they will be.

  7. MarkedMan says:

    Major miscalculation on Santorum’s part. But of course, it’s Santorum, so the only surprise is how early in the process he put his foot in it. The man really is tone deaf.

  8. EddieInCA says:

    If anyone wants to see what a fully-neutered GOP politician looks like, watch Santorum’s interview with Greta from a few nights ago.

    Wow.

    If he had a tail, it would be between his legs.

    Sad, actually.