The Hill News

Rick Santorum regrets saying that he wanted to "throw up" in response to watching a video clip of President John F. Kennedy's 1960 speech about the separation of church and state.

"I wish I had that particular line back," Santorum said Tuesday on Laura Ingraham's radio show.

Two days earlier, while making an appearance on ABC's "This Week", Santorum was asked to respond to a clip of Kennedy's speech in which the Democratic presidential candidate said he believes "in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute."

Santorum didn't hold any punches in reacting to the quote.

"I don't believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute. The idea that the church can have no influence or no involvement in the operation of the state is absolutely antithetical to the objectives and vision of our country," Santorum said on the Sunday news show.

Santorum has worked to make social issues and religion a primary theme of his campaign. He recently said that President Obama's political agenda was motivated by "some phony theology, not a theology based on the Bible." Santorum later said he was not questioning the president's religion, rather, he was "talking about his world view, and the way he approaches problems in this country."

(h/t: Igor Volsky)