Rick Santorum tees off on NY Times reporter

Rick Santorum went ballistic at New York Times reporter Jeff Zeleny on Sunday and accused him of publishing "bulls---" about Santorum's campaign.

At a campaign event in Wisconsin, Santorum called Mitt Romney "the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama."

When Zeleny repeated Santorum's quote and asked for clarification, Santorum lost it.

"What speech did you listen to? ... Stop lying!" Santorum said, jabbing his finger at Zeleny. "I said he was the worst Republican to run on the issue of Obamacare and that's what I was talking about. ... For every speech I give, I have said he is uniquely disqualified to run against Barack Obama on the issue of health care. Will you guys quit distorting what I'm saying?"

"Quit distorting our words," Santorum continued. "If I see it (in print), it's bulls---. C'mon man, what are you doing?"

Zeleny responded that Santorum seemed upset about something.

"I'm upset when the media distorts what I say, yeah I am. I do get upset. Because you knew exactly what I was saying and you're misrepresenting.

"What are you guys in the business of doing, reporting the truth? Or are you here to try to spin and make news? Stop it. You don't care about the truth at all, do you?"

Santorum defended his profanity today, telling Fox News it proves he's "a real Republican."

Zeleny talked about the exchange on "CBS This Morning" today and said he thinks Santorum was playing to the cameras. Romney spokesman Ryan Williams quickly pounced, saying Santorum was getting more desperate and "unhinged" in the final days of his campaign.

Either explanation makes sense. While it's probably true that Santorum meant to say Romney was the worst Republican against Obama on health care, that's not what he said at the Wisconsin event. Zeleny at least asked for clarification, rather than just running with Santorum's actual quote. That gave Santorum the opportunity to explain that he was talking about Romney on health care. Instead, he gave viewers another reason to feel a little skittish about having Santorum lead the free world.

Santorum's exchange with Zeleny is below.

-- Taylor Batten

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