Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Thursday suggested that Big Bird’s death at the hands of GOP hopeful Mitt Romney didn’t have to be in vain because the Sesame Street character could be suitable for “eating.”

During Wednesday night’s presidential debate Romney had told moderator Jim Lehrer, “I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you, too. But I’m not gonna keep on spending money on things to borrow from China to pay for.”

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CNN host Piers Morgan asked Santorum on Thursday if he would also “kill Big Bird.”

“Well, as a matter of fact, I’ve voted to kill Big Bird,” Santorum replied proudly. “That doesn’t mean I don’t like Big Bird. You can kill things and still like them. I mean, maybe to eat them.”

“That’s probably not — can we go back on that one,” the former Pennsylvania senator added, waiving his hands at the camera.

“That was beautifully, badly phrased,” Morgan agreed.

At a campaign event in Denver on Thursday, President Barack Obama had blasted Romney for refusing to close corporate tax loopholes and ruling out raising additional revenue to balance the nation’s budget.

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“And when he was asked what he would actually do to cut the deficit and reduce spending, he said he’d eliminate funding for public television,” the president explained to boos from the crowd. “That was his answer. I mean, thank goodness somebody is finally getting tough on Big Bird. It’s about time.”

“We didn’t know that Big Bird was driving the federal deficit,” Obama quipped. “Elmo too.”

In fact, the $444 million in subsidies the U.S. government provided to Corporation for Public Broadcasting last year only accounted for .037 percent of the nation’s $1.2 trillion deficit.

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Watch this video from CNN, broadcast Oct. 4, 2012.

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(h/t: The Huffington Post)