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Rachel Maddow pressed John Brabender, a senior strategist for Rick Santorum, over some of the major issues she has with the GOP candidate's campaign on Wednesday night.
The two sat down for an exchange, which Brabender said that observers might have found strange. "Every time I say I'm doing an interview with you, everyone says 'what is wrong with you?'" and I don't understand it," he said, laughing.
They discussed what it will take for Santorum to stay in the race, as well as whether he would endorse Romney if he loses. Then, Maddow turned to one of her points of criticism about the candidate.
She said that he has made false claims that "seemed to please his audiences very much that were blatantly not true." She specifically referred to Santorum's allegations that the University of California system does not teach American history, and that the Netherlands has killed elderly people against their will under the guise of euthanasia.
"He doesn't correct those things when he's called out on them," Maddow said. "Do you think that he should?"
Brabender said that some errors were "not unusual," considering that Santorum gives speeches without usual campaign conventions, like pollsters or teleprompters.
Maddow wasn't satisfied with his answer. She acknowledged that "people make errors," but took issue with his failure to correct those mistakes.
"He's running as a man of integrity, so correcting something, when you put something out there that's false seems like a matter of honor, and I'm surprised he doesn't do it," she said.
"I would bet that somebody he thought was credible gave him misinformation, and I believe he would be the first person to tell you I was wrong," Brabender said. Maddow, looking unconvinced, promised to "follow up" on the issue.
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