Last modified on January 5, 2012 by Brad Phillips

Did Rick Santorum Say That "Black People" Get Medicaid?

The Internets are abuzz today with news that GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum targeted “black people” who receive Medicaid, while ignoring that the majority of recipients are white.

The heads of the NAACP and National Urban League were both quick to blast Sen. Santorum for his comment, which he is alleged to have made last Sunday during a campaign appearance. And the two leaders would be right to attack Santorum’s comment if he actually said it.

But I don’t think he did. Here’s the clip in question:

On first listen, it indeed sounds like Santorum says “black,” making his quote appear to say:

“I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money. I want to give them the opportunity to earn the money and to provide for themselves and their families…”

But listen again. The word “black” makes a hard sound – “ack” – and Sen. Santorum’s word did not. Upon careful listening, it seems to me that the word ends in an “ah” or “igh” sound. Plus, he addressed the comments to “you” (the crowd), meaning that “black people” would have made little sense in that context.

Mr. Santorum says that he was stumbling for another word and accidentally combined two different thoughts in a single jumbled word. As a professional speaker, I admit that that happens to all of us sometimes, so I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

But assuming that Mr. Santorum is indeed innocent, his response to this mini-crisis has been awful.

First, he told CBS News’ Scott Pelley that:

“…he wasn’t aware of the context of his remark, but mentioned that he had recently watched the movie ‘Waiting for Superman,’ which analyzes the American public education system through the stories of several students and their families.”

But by last night, his explanation changed when he spoke to CNN’s John King:

Notice how Mr. Santorum’s response is loaded with hedged, tentative language:

“I looked at the video, and I don’t, in fact I’m pretty confident I didn’t say ‘black.’ What I think I started to say a word and sort of mumbled it and changed my thought. I don’t recall saying black.”

He’s “pretty” confident? He “thinks” he started to say another word? “He doesn’t “recall?”

If he didn’t say the word black, he needed to say so unequivocally. This type of statement would have been far superior:

“I absolutely did not say the word black. I started to say another word and mumbled it and changed my thought. I would never make the statement I’m alleged to have made, especially because it would have been factually incorrect – more Caucasians receive Medicaid than anyone else, so it would have made no sense to single out a particular group.”

What do you think? Do you buy Sen. Santorum’s explanation? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.