Rick Santorum has criticized President Obama for supporting gay marriage.

Obama on Wednesday told ABC News' Robin Roberts: “I've concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.”

Santorum, who last month dropped out of the GOP presidential nominating contest, decried Obama's gay marriage “charade.”

“The announcement today by President Obama should come as no surprise to the American public,” Santorum said in a statement. “President Obama has consistently fought against protecting the institution of marriage from radical social engineering at both the state and federal level. The President recently opposed the North Carolina constitutional amendment and, of course, he refused to defend President Clinton's Defense of Marriage Act before the U.S. Supreme court. The charade is now over, no doubt an attempt to galvanize his core hard left supporters in advance of the November election.”

“Thankfully the American public, when it has had an opportunity to consider the real world consequences of such a fundamental change to our society, has consistently voted for maintaining one man one woman marriage – the basic building block of our society. I will continue to fight to make sure that the cultural elites don't further undermine the institution that gives the best opportunity for healthy, happy children and a just and prosperous society.”

(Related: Jay Leno tells Rick Santorum he's wrong on gay marriage.)