Rick Santorum says he’s praying for sex columnist Dan Savage
Rick Santorum speaks to supporters at the St. Charles Convention Center in St. Charles, Mo., on Feb. 7, 2012.
In a new interview, GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum says he's praying for sex columnist and gay rights advocate Dan Savage.
The two have been feuding since Savage held a contest in 2003 to redefine the word "Santorum" from the last name of the former Pennsylvania senator to a sexual neologism involving anal sex, The Huffington Post reported.
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Savage's redefinition took hold so much so that his "Spreading Santorum" site quickly became one of the top three Google search results for Santorum's name, Mother Jones reported.
Santorum contacted Google last fall in an attempt to clear up the matter, but only exacerbated the issue, according to Politico.
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In an interview posted Monday, RealClearReligion asked Santorum what he would say to Savage if the two ever met.
"I would tell him that I'm praying for him," Santorum told RealClearReligion. "He obviously has some serious issues. You look at someone like that who can say and do the things that he's doing and you just pray for him and hopefully he can find peace."
In an email to Mother Jones, Savage fired back: "Rick can pray for me. I'll gay for him. And we can call it even."