Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum said to Newsmax Monday that the prolonged war with Iran is dividing Republicans but argued that Democrats face a deeper split driven by the party's socialist wing and wealthy progressive donors.

Santorum, a Newsmax senior political analyst, said President Donald Trump must better explain the nearly five-month conflict and persuade voters that its costs are justified by the threat Iran poses.

"Well, yeah, I think it divides Republicans but not as much as the Democrats are being divided by their democratic socialists," Santorum told "Wake Up America."

"I mean, I think we have to, you know, compare the two. I think even the Republicans who are expressing a lot of concern, sort of the, I would argue, the JD Vance wing of the party, who's, you know, very anti-war, understand that the president is trying to deal with a very difficult situation," he added.

"They may not agree necessarily with the tactics and the economic fallout that's coming from it, but they understand that Iran is dangerous and that you have to do something about it," Santorum continued.

"The democratic socialists are just simply self-inflicted wounds of a party that's gone completely crazy. And so there is a difference," the former senator noted.

"And I think Donald Trump has work to do to continue to lay out why this is important to do and understand that the sacrifice that we're making to stop Iran is really not significant compared to what we're trying to accomplish," added Santorum.

Public frustration with the war has increased as fighting and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have driven up energy costs.

A CBS News-YouGov survey conducted July 22-24 found 58% of Americans felt uncertain about the conflict, and 57% felt frustrated, while 75% said it had been more difficult than the Trump administration expected.

The survey included 2,193 adults and had a margin of error of ±2.7 percentage points.

Congressional opposition also has grown, with the House voting 214-208 Thursday for a largely symbolic resolution directing Trump to end hostilities in Iran.

Every House Democrat and four Republicans supported the measure, reflecting broader GOP unease, even as most Republican lawmakers continue backing Trump's military campaign.

Trump on Friday paused U.S. strikes around southern Iran and the Strait of Hormuz for the first time in two weeks as diplomatic negotiations continued.

Santorum also blamed the Democratic National Committee's financial problems on wealthy donors directing money through outside organizations instead of the national party.

"The Democratic Party has never been a party that's been controlled by the Democratic Party itself," he said.

"It's always been a party of special interests," said Santorum. "When I was first in politics, it was the party of, you know, big labor. It was a party of the environmentalists."

"It was a party of the radical pro-choice folks," he continued. "I mean, it was a bunch of interest groups."

"Now it's sort of transitioned. It's the party of the billionaires. It's the party, you know, of the big tech billionaires who are the ultra-leftists who are supporting all of this craziness, and they're the ones who control the money, and they're not going to give it to the Democratic Party," added Santorum.

"They're going to use it themselves," he explained. "They have these super PACs and other types of soft money that they use to fund candidates with enormous amounts of money."

"These are billionaires who spend, you know, $100 million, you know, a few pennies from their billions and billions of dollars they have," Santorum added. "And they're the ones who run the party."

"And as a result, the Democratic Party doesn't have any money because all of these megadonors are the ones who are controlling everything," he argued.

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