The Hill News

Rick Santorum stuck with his claim that he agreed to support Sen. Arlen Specter's (Pa.) reelection in exchange for Specter's supporting one of President George W. Bush's nominees for the Supreme Court.

"All I would say is the proof is in the pudding,” Santorum told Glenn Beck on Friday. "Arlen Specter stood up and defended Alito and Roberts every moment they were attacked. He was the first one out there defending them, doing exactly what he said he was going to do, which is work as chairman of the committee."

Earlier on Friday Specter denied that he agreed to support Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court in exchange for Santorum's support.

"That is flatly not true," Specter said on MSNBC. "We never had any such conversation. It would be improper to make a commitment on the vote before I knew who the nominee was and I knew whether the nominee was qualified."

Santorum maintained though that he only agreed to back Santorum in a prim! ary race between him and then Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) in exchange for supporting Alito.

Santorum was forced to defend his decision to endorse Specter, a centrist Republican who switched parties in 2009 and voted for President Obama's healthcare law, during Wednesday night's GOP debate.