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While Santorum Shoots Gun, Woman Shouts, 'Pretend It's Obama'

Republican presidential candidate, former Sen. Rick Santorum, speaks at a campaign rally in West Monroe, La. on Friday.
Ben Corda
/
AP
Republican presidential candidate, former Sen. Rick Santorum, speaks at a campaign rally in West Monroe, La. on Friday.

During a campaign stop at a Louisiana firing range, Rick Santorum took the opportunity to shoot some rounds at a target.

But as he took one shot, a supporter yelled, "Pretend it's Obama."

The GOP presidential candidate said he did not hear the remarks, but media travelling with the former Pennsylvania senator caught it on tape.

Here's ABC News video of it:

Santorum very quickly disavowed the remarks.

"It's absurd," he told reporters, according to The National Journal. "No, we're not pretending it's anybody, but shooting pistols. It's a very terrible and horrible remark and I'm glad I didn't hear it."

The Journal adds that the Secret Service "said it would look into whether the incident posed a legitimate threat."

Update on March 26 at 3:58 p.m. ET. Note, we tweaked this post to say it was Santorum who said he did not hear the remarks.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.