Update: Rick Santorum’s quote in the headline and text of this post has been corrected since original publication.

While campaigning in Sioux City, Iowa on Sunday, GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum said if elected he plans to cut regulations and entitlements and he doesn’t want to "make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money." In other words, Santorum doesn’t want to help blacks because he thinks they rely too much on welfare.

"I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money. I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn their money and provide for themselves and their families. The best way to do that is to get the manufacturing sector of the economy rolling."

Only 9% of people on food stamps in Iowa are black, 84% are white, CBS News reported Monday.

Santorum’s defense that he’s been using for two days is to play dumb. On Fox News last night, Santorum did not deny he referenced black people. Instead he said he had "not heard it" and didn’t know the context in which it was said. Santorum is currently in a three-way nail-biter in Iowa, according to recent polls.