Rick Santorum on Monday defended cursing at New York Times reporter Jeff Zeleny on Fox News as normal for a "real Republican."

"If you haven't cursed out a New York Times reporter during the course of a campaign, you're not really a real Republican, is the way I look at it," he said on "Fox & Friends."

Zeleny asked Santorum about comments he made in Wisconsin on Sunday that Romney was the "worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama."

"You said Mitt Romney is the worst Republican in the country," said Zeleny. "Is that true?"

"Stop lying," Santorum said irately, pointing his finger at him, claiming that he was only talking about Romney's health care positions. "Quit distorting my words ... if I see it, it's bullsh*t."

(Video above via CBS News.)

Continued Santorum on Fox News, "It was just one of these harassing moments, and after having answered the question a few times, sort of comes back with the same old question, the same old spin. I just said, 'Okay, I've had enough of this you-know-what.' And so that's what I did. Look, we're out there slugging away. We're the candidate out there that's mixing it up, and we're mixing it up."

The former Pennsylvania senator's campaign, playing up the confrontation in an effort to win votes among Republican primary voters distrustful of the Gray Lady, sent out an email asking for contributions that led with: "I'm Ready to Take On the New York Times."