Megadeth Front Man Pushes Away Santorum 'Endorsement'

Reports declaring Pennsylvania Republican Rick Santorum the elephant that Megadeth's Dave Mustaine will back this November have apparently been exaggerated, according to Billboard.

The lead singer and guitarist recently told Music Radar that he hasn't seen nearly the good that President Obama has done the country that others do, and that he's pulling for a GOP candidate to win the Oval Office. Though he admits being unfamiliar with Santorum during his early campaigning, Mustaine said the former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania first won his respect when he left the campaign trail so he could attend to his ill daughter.

As attack ads escalated between front-runners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul started resembling "insecticide" according to Mustaine ("98 percent of it is inert gas, but it's the two percent that's left that will kill you . . ."), Mustaine claims Santorum quickly started looking to him like a man who cared more about the office than degrading his competition.

"Just watching how [Santorum] hasn't gotten into doing these horrible, horrible attack ads like Mitt Romney's done against Newt Gingrich, and then the volume at which Newt has gone back at Romney . . . You know, I think Santorum has some presidential qualities, and I'm hoping that if it does come down to it, we'll see a Republican in the White House . . . and that it's Rick Santorum," Mustaine said.

In a statement quoted by Billboard today, Mustaine has now distanced himself and said he's given no support officially as yet. Feel free to call this "mincing words."

"Contrary to how some people have interpreted my words, I have not endorsed any presidential candidate," Mustaine stated via press release. "What I did say was that I hope to see a Republican in the White House. I've seen good qualities in all the candidates [Writer's Note: Ahem..."insecticide"?] but by no means have made my choice yet. I respect the fact that Santorum took time off from his campaign to be with his sick daughter, but I never used the word 'endorse'."