Foster Friess, the conservative financier behind Rick Santorum’s super-PAC, was on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” a few minutes ago. Mitchell asked him whether he was concerned about Santorum’s stands on social issues, and their potential to alienate voters. Friess said that he thought the social issues were a distraction, with so many people struggling financially—which is reasonable enough.
Then he said this:
This contraception thing, my gosh, it’s [so] inexpensive. You know, back in my days, they’d use Bayer aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn’t that costly.
Mitchell was speechless. As am I.
You can’t hold politicians responsible for what their supporters say. But it’s creepy, and offensive, that anybody living in the 21st Century would say that, let alone somebody with huge financial resources and a desire to influence American politics.
I would hope Friess apologizes for the statement—and that, at some point, Santorum makes clear he doesn’t share such sentiments.
Update: Friess appeared on MSNBC's "The Last Word" on Thursday evening, and told host Lawrence O'Donnell that he was simply repeating an old joke that used to be popular. At the annual Lincoln Day dinner in suburban Detroit, Santorum just told Buzzfeed's Rosie Gray that "I'm not responsible for every bad joke one of my supporters makes." Meantime, if you haven't read Molly Redden's profile of Friess, you should.