Santorum and former Philly Police commissioner join CNN ahead of the inauguration

CNN announced a new set of on-air contributors Tuesday ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration this week.

Former Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsay are the latest paid contributors to join the news network, which now includes former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who began in early 2016 after serving two terms.

Santorum sparred with Nutter, a Democrat, on CNN last week after defending Trump’s comments on Georgia Rep. John Lewis, saying “Donald Trump is the president because he did things like this.”

On a segment of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Lewis, a prominent civil rights activist, said that he doesn’t see Trump as a “legitimate president“because reported hacking by Russia helped him win the November election, adding that he won’t attend the inaugural celebration on Friday, joining a cadre of Democratic elected officials who are also sitting it out.

Trump lashed back, tweeting Saturday that “Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk — no action or results. Sad!”

On CNN, Nuttercalled out Santorum for “normalizing” Trump’s behavior.

“He doesn’t get a pass, senator,”Nutter said. “We’re not normalizing this behavior in this country. We’re not normalizing ignorant behavior in this country.”

Santorum and Ramsay join Washington Post reporters David Fahrenthold, Wesley Lowery and Abby Phillips; former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm; former New York Rep. Steve Israel; and New York Times contributor JD Vance.