Santorum: ‘Zero Tolerance’ in Chick-fil-A Protests

Calls for the boycott of Chick-fil-A following its CEO’s comments in support of traditional marriage is little more than a witch hunt, former presidential hopeful Rick Santorum told CNBC on Thursday.

“You just keep seeing this more and more, which is the absolute intolerance of the left in America. There can be no dissent from what their position is,” he said on “The Kudlow Report.”

The idea that the company would face pressure for its leader’s beliefs was antithetical to the idea of the United States.

“This is why the Hugenots came to America,” Santorum said, adding the Dutch Reform Church and Catholics to that list.

“They didn’t want the government telling them what to believe and that they couldn’t say things in public, that they had to keep it to themselves,” he said, or be “barred from doing business.”

Santorum added that radical Islamists were anti-gay

“In Iran, if you’re found to be gay, you’re killed,” he said. “Sharia law has zero tolerance toward gays.”

Last week, a story in The Baptist Press quoted Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy coming out in support of traditional marriage.

"We are very much supportive of the family – the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that,” he said.

The comments sparked protest from supporters of same-sex marriage, and led to city officials in Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston to come out swinging against the chicken chain restaurant.

Even the Muppets, which had a marketing agreement with Chick-fil-A, severed ties with the company following the firestorm.

Santorum and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister, declared next Wednesday “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” to support the business.

Nick Gillespie, editor-in-chief of Reason.com, said he believed, “as a libertarian, as somebody who believes absolutely in marriage equality,” that consumers can vote with their dollars: If they don’t like the company’s stance, they can always eat elsewhere.

Total Cost: $58,065Tuition: $43,840Room & Board: $13,980Fees: $245Claremont McKenna, located near downtown Los Angeles, accepted only 12.4 percent of its applicants for the class of 2016, a rate that admissions counselor Brandon Gonzalez said ensures that students here will be going to school only with other top students.�The class of 2016 will be one of the most talented groups of students we have ever seen,� The school will charge these students a tuition of $21,920 per semester, or $43,840 for the entire academic year, incurring a total cost of

“By the same token, there is something absolutely, fundamentally wrong with politicians saying what kinds of businesses can set up shop in their city and where,” he said.

Gillespie also pointed out that the company had not appeared to break any laws.

“It doesn’t ban or bar gay employees, it doesn’t ban or bar gay customers — and that’s worth keeping in mind — because they’re good businessmen,” he said.

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