Rick Santorum delivered scathing criticisms of President Obama on the night of his Michigan primary loss to Mitt Romney.
The former senator acknowledged his supporters for making Michigan, where Romney grew up, a close contest.
"We came into the backyard of one of my opponents, in a race that everyone said, 'just ignore, you really don’t have much chance here,' " Santorum said. "All I have to say is, 'I love you back.' "
But Santorum's speech centered around criticizing Obama rather than Romney, whom he called just before his speech to concede the state's pivotal primary.
Santorum accused Obama of pushing environmental and manufacturing policies that hindered economic growth.
"Folks, we need a president who's on the side of rural America, who's on the side of small-town America and opens up those energy resources," Santorum said.
He reiterated that if elected, he would repeal Obama's healthcare reform law, also criticizing Romney for the healthcare law passed during the former Massachusetts governor's term in office.
"We will repeal every single one of Barack Obama's big government regulations on Day One," Santorum said. "One of the things we're going to repeal right out is ObamaCare."
A Romney aide said that Santorum called Romney to concede the primary just before he took the stage.
Romney was projected the winner in Michigan a little more than hour after the last polls closed.
With 71 precincts reporting, Romney had 41 percent of the vote to Santorum’s 38 percent. Ron Paul was in third with 12, followed by Newt Gingrich with 7 percent.
