Rick Santorum uses first debate opportunity to go on raging rant against the media

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) used his first answer at the Thursday-night Fox News primary debate to rage against the media.

Santorum, who competed in the so-called undercard debate for the lower-polling candidates, castigated Fox and the press for focusing on whether real-estate mogul Donald Trump would attend the prime-time event.

"Listening to what your network was talking about prior to this debate, reminded me of the coverage that many of this floor are getting," Santorum said when asked if next Monday's Iowa caucus would be his final stand.

He added: "This debate was called the 'undercard debate.' The undercard debate. It wasn't advertised significantly. In fact, the entire hour lead-up of this, there was no conversation about any of the four people on this debate stage."

Santorum has polled at the bottom of the pack even though he had a strong performance during the 2012 presidential primary. During that contest, Santorum narrowly edged out former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) in Iowa and won a number of states' primaries and caucuses.

But this time around, Santorum has struggled to gain traction or media attention against his better-funded, better-known rivals.

"This is what the media has been doing over the past year in trying to segregate and take Iowans out of the process," Santorum said, his voice rising. "What Iowans deserve is to hear from every candidate on an equal footing! Had they applied the same rules four years ago, I would have been in the 'undercard debate.'"

Santorum, his voice continuing to boom, urged voters to back him over Trump, the Republican front-runner who is boycotting the main event.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you have a chance on Monday to put the record straight about who you want - not who will entertain you - but who will fight for what you believe!" he said.

"The entire lead-up to this debate was talking about whether Donald Trump was going to show up to the next debate. The people of Iowa - who I know pretty darn well - care about issues," he added.

Fox anchor Bill Hemmer, one of the two moderators of the undercard debate, pointed out that Santorum is planning to go to the charity fundraiser Trump is hosting as part of the front-runner's debate boycott.

"Are you laying the groundwork for maybe your future, perhaps an endorsement of Mr. Trump?" Hemmer asked.

Santorum said he simply didn't have anything else to do later that night, so he decided he would help Trump raise money for veterans.