O'Reilly to Santorum: 'You're Going to be Portrayed as an Extremist,' Are You 'Ready to Be Demonized?

Video follows below.

After complaining of what he viewed a deliberate snub, GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum was finally asked to appear on The O’Reilly Factor Wednesday. One of host Bill O’Reilly's first questions for the Republican candidate was, “are you ready to be demonized?”

“This isn’t my first rodeo, Bill," Santorum began. "I’ve been in a lot of tough campaigns in Pennsylvania.”

While Santorum said he realizes the criticism will be different on the national level, O'Reilly pressed, “It’s going to be a national demonization and you’re going to be portrayed as an extremist and some of your views are out of the mainstream according to polls.”

The Factor host used Santorum's views on contraceptives -- and that he believes states should have the right to ban them if they so choose -- to serve as an example of the disparity between the former senator's views on the topic and that of "98 percent of Americans."

On January 2, ABC's Jake Tapper reported:

I pointed out that Democrats say that one of the reasons Santorum lost in 2006 was because they say he’s more conservative than mainstream America. One issue was Santorum’s opposition to the Supreme Court’s 1965 ruling that invalidated a Connecticut law banning contraception. Santorum said he still feels that a state should be able to make such laws.

“The state has a right to do that, I have never questioned that the state has a right to do that. It is not a constitutional right, the state has the right to pass whatever statues they have.  That is the thing I have said about the activism of the Supreme Court, they are creating rights, and they should be left up to the people to decide,” he said.

During the interview, O’Reilly also pressed Santorum on his position on same-sex marriage.

“I don’t think being for marriage being between a man and a woman is extreme.”

The former Pennsylvania senator, who claims that he raised one million dollars in the last day alone, predicted that he will start to gain momentum in the upcoming primary states and added that his campaign is very positive about his future.

“We’re going to be a much bigger player than I think everybody anticipates right now.”

O’Reilly also gave Santorum an opportunity to explain a controversial comment he allegedly made to Fox News reporters in which the Pennsylvania Republican claimed he didn’t want to make “black people’s lives better” with other people's money.

Watch Santorum's answer, and the entire interview below: