What Does Rick Santorum Really Think About Romney's Days at Bain Capital? He Tells Us

Mitt Romney's days at the private equity firm Bain Capital have become a rallying cry for liberals lately. In fact, his time there -- along with his quote that he likes having the ability to fire people -- have even become red meat for his Republican opponents. Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and Jon Huntsman have all piled on. But what about Rick Santorum -- where does he stand on the issue? We have the answer. (Hint: he gave a detailed response.)

According to the Wall Street Journal, Santorum has largely stayed out of the fray:

Mr. Romney's GOP opponents (with the admirable exception of Rick Santorum) are embarrassing themselves by taking the Obama line, but Mr. Romney should view this as an opportunity to stake his campaign on something larger and far more important than his own business expertise.

Bloomberg Businessweek notes that if Santorum has taken a shot at anyone, it's at those who have gone after Romney:

Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, another Romney rival, was also critical of Gingrich at an event last night in West Columbia, South Carolina. American business has suffered because of “hostile” rhetoric, Santorum said.

“It’s bad enough for Barack Obama to blame folks in business for causing problems in this country. It’s a whole other thing for Republicans to join in on it,” he said.

And the Washington Post quotes him saying, when asked if Romney's experience at Bain is a liability, “I’m not making it a liability. I believe in the private sector.”

But what did Santorum tell The Blaze when he sat down with us this week? Blaze and GBTV contributors Will Cain and S.E. Cupp asked him point blank his thoughts on Romney and Bain Capital, and here's what he said (rough transcript):

WILL: Speaking of those guys on Wall Street, several of your opponents, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and the left for that matter, are criticizing Mitt Romney for his role at Bain for the ups and downs that they had, the firings. What's your take on that?

SANTORUM: My take on that is that I don't know of any companies, or very few companies, that go in and try to buy a company and try to tear it apart, make money and leave. I think every acquisition you look at it with an opportunity so you can create an ongoing business venture and because that's how you make your most money.

WILL: So you think Newt and Rick are on the wrong path?

SANTORUM: Well I don't think, again I don't know the characters at Bain. I don't know what was going on there but I do know from the business experience I have that the most profitable way to engage in that type of activity is to find a company, turn it around, make a profit and then spin it off. That's how you make money. You don't by buying that company, tearing it apart. you make a little bit of money but you're not doing what you're out to do which is to build a track record of success, a track record of returns a track record that would make people interested in engaging you as someone to help them run your company.

WILL: And does Mitt Romney's career as far as you can tell reflect the one you just described that you respected, or the one that doesn't work?

SANTORUM: I think overall it's a record that's a positive record. ... I just feel very uncomfortable going out and attacking people because they lost money or a business fail. ... My focus has been on Mitt Romney's record as governor of Massachusetts, which isn't very good, and shows someone who's not a strong conservative.

You can watch the exchange below (starting at about 10:20) as well as the full wide-ranging interview, which includes Santorum's response to accusations that he's a "big government conservative," an explanation of his NAFTA vote, and even a football analogy that involved libertarians: