DERRY, N.H. — Rick Santorum said Monday that comments he made last week in Iowa about food stamps that some construed as racially charged were the result of his having been tongue-tied and were not a reference to black people.

From New Hampshire Reporting on the candidates and voters from the Granite State.

Moreover, he said he has done more in black communities “than any Republican in recent memory.”

Mr. Santorum, who had worked on overhauling the welfare system when he was in Congress, was discussing food stamps in Sioux City, Iowa, on Jan. 1 when he was reported to have said: “I do not want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money, I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money.”

He maintains that he did not say “black” people’s lives but rather stumbled verbally when he was trying to say “people’s lives” and uttered a short syllable that came out as “plives.”

Nonetheless, he faced criticism afterward for apparently linking food stamps with black people, although there are more whites (49 percent of recipients) on food stamps than blacks (26 percent). The rest (20 percent) are Hispanic.

On Monday, at a stop at Mary Ann’s Diner here, he was asked by a reporter if he had been unfair to black people.

“Oh that’s just absurd,” he said testily, as a mob of reporters surrounded him.

“First off, I didn’t say the word black. I got my tongue tied. You guys are making — look at my track record, look at what I’ve done for opportunity and helping people. Look at my record of employment, look at my record of working in the community. You guys, you guys — it’s really sad that you are bringing this up. It’s just sad news. I’ve done more in the African-American communities as a Republican than any Republican in recent memory.”

With that, he hopped in his campaign van and headed off to his next event.