The Republican former Sen. Rick Santorum said that asking President Donald Trump to condemn right-wing extremists during Tuesday night’s debate with Joe Biden was unfair because it meant alienating Trump’s supporters.

Santorum, who in 2012 lost out to Mitt Romney as the Republican nominee for president, appeared on CNN and suggested the debate moderator Chris Wallace set Trump up.

“The Democrats owe a lot to Chris Wallace,” Santorum said. “He asked two questions, where he was asking the president to do something he knows the president doesn’t like to do.”

Asked to elaborate, Santorum said: “Which is say something bad about people who support him. Right?”