Dan Savage has fired back at Rick Santorum after the Republican presidential candidate promised to "pray for" the outspoken sex columnist in an interview.

Savage, who infamously launched a campaign to redefine the former Pennsylvania senator's last name into a neologism involving anal sex, told Mother Jones writer Andy Kroll in an email:

"Rick Santorum thinks that women who have been raped should be compelled—by force of law—to carry the babies of their rapists to term, he thinks birth control should be illegal, he wants to prosecute pornographers, etc., etc., basically the guy wants to be president so that he can micromanage the sex lives of all Americans...and I'm the one with issues? Because I made a dirty joke at his expense eight or nine years ago and it stuck? I'm the one with issues?"

Savage concluded, "Rick can pray for me. I'll gay for him. And we can call it even."

In an interview with the website RealClearReligion published Monday, Santorum was asked what he would say to Savage. "I would tell him that I'm praying for him," he replied. "He obviously has some serious issues. You look at someone like that who can say and do the things that he's doing and you just pray for him and hopefully he can find peace."

You may recall that after Savage's "Google bomb," "Santorum" was defined by the popular website and search engine as "the frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex."



Take a look at some of Santorum's views on various social issues below: