Former US senator Rick Santorum says Abbott can ‘connect with average voters’ without compromising his conservative values

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

The former US senator Rick Santorum has cited Tony Abbott and the Pope as men the Republican party could learn from in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential campaign.

Republican Santorum used Abbott as an example of a rightwing politician who won office without compromising his values during an interview with Fox News.

“Australia is clearly to the left of us on most of these moral cultural issues, yet Tony Abbott is a conservative Catholic who didn’t change his positions one bit but was able to go out there and connect with average voters,” he said in response to a viewer asking if a far-right candidate could win the presidency in a party of moderates.

He said the party was missing the mark by campaigning on cutting taxes for the rich and social welfare as they were missing getting in touch with the average voter like “hardliner” Abbott did.

“We’ve done a very bad job of connecting with working Americans, and we’re out there in a very stressful time in American history,” he said.

“People are full of fear and anxiety about their future, and we’re out there talking about cutting things.”

Pope Francis was another figure Santorum referenced in the interview as an effective communicator with “average” people.

“Pope Francis hasn’t changed one doctrine of the Catholic church, but he’s getting four times the crowds,” he said.

“Why? Because the way he’s communicating to the average person out there. We need to learn some lessons of who is out there trying to reach average folks.”

Santorum was one of the most conservative candidates for the Republican party presidential nomination in 2012, which eventually went to Mitt Romney, and is considering running again.

