CNN drops Rick Santorum following remarks about Native Americans
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
CNN has dropped former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum as a senior political commentator, a network spokeswoman confirmed on Saturday.
© Provided by NBC News
"We've parted ways," Vice President of Communications Alison Rudnick said by email.
The split was first reported by the Huffington Post, which reported that senior management at the news outlet was not pleased with Santorum's May 3 appearance on its "Cuomo Prime Time" show, where he attempted to clarify April remarks about Native Americans at a Young America's Foundation event. Rudnick confirmed the Huffington Post report to NBC News.
Santorum told host Chris Cuomo he "misspoke" and that his remarks were taken out of context.
"I was not trying to dismiss Native Americans," he said.
Santorum's back peddling wasn't enough, a CNN executive told the Huffington Post. Santorum did not immediately respond to a NBC News request for comment.
The initial remarks on Native Americans were widely panned as ignorant, insensitive and racist. At the Young America's Foundation event, Santorum argued there was "nothing here" before European settlers arrived.
"We came here and created a blank slate," Santorum said. "We birthed a nation from nothing. I mean, there was nothing here. I mean, yes we have Native Americans, but candidly there isn't much Native American culture in American culture."
The remarks prompted some Native Americans and progressives to call on CNN to drop Santorum.
"Televising someone with his views on Native American genocide is fundamentally no different than putting an outright Nazi on television to justify the Holocaust," Fawn Sharp, president of the National Congress of American Indians, said in a statement.
"Any mainstream media organization should fire him or face a boycott from more than 500 Tribal Nations and our allies from across the country and worldwide," she said.
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Santorum stepped over the line.
I'm sure he will howl that he was the victim of socialist cancel culture.
I think CNN should have representatives of conservatism in their line-up but Santorum is not the caliber of character CNN needs, not at all.
Good riddance.
We just live in a world now where contracts are cancelled because of something someone said whether it was truly problematic or not. I think it’s clear Santorum was trying to boost his country and not dis anyone in particular, but it doesn’t matter. Networks and corporations feel they need to appease the loudest complainers out there, even if they are a small sample. If no one had decided to make a fuss based on politics, I doubt most people would have cared about Santorum’s comment.
The man obliterated an entire nation of first people with his comment. To refresh your memory:
"We came here and created a blank slate," Santorum said. "We birthed a nation from nothing. I mean, there was nothing here. I mean, yes we have Native Americans, but candidly there isn't much Native American culture in American culture."
In essence, you said the same thing he did.
Really? Where are the bodies? I’m pretty sure he didn’t obliterate anyone. Furthermore, your own quote shows that he acknowledged Native Americans all on his own, so again, he wasn’t obliterating anyone.
Amazingly ignorant. Half of the states have NA names the Mississippi and Missouri rivers are NA names hundreds of cities have NA names. Perhaps Rick should have paid more attention since his state has a NA name and the dozens of towns throughout the state that have NA names.
How the Iroquois Great Law of Peace Shaped U.S. Democracy
The Iroquois Confederacy, founded by the Great Peacemaker in 1142 1 , is the oldest living participatory democracy on earth 2 . In 1988, the U.S. Senate paid tribute with a resolution 3 that said, "The confederation of the original 13 colonies into one republic was influenced by the political system developed by the Iroquois Confederacy, as were many of the democratic principles which were incorporated into the constitution itself."
Of course, the foods and medicines (drugs) that we use today were part and parcel of the NA culture.
7 Native American Inventions That Revolutionized Medicine And Public Health
“more than 120 drugs prescribed by physicians today were first made from ... They performed arthrocentesis, surgical and wound debridement. There are numerous article, books, and research papers about ''American Indians and pharmacopeia, Santorum should check out his local library on the subject.
Here are a few more inventions by NA's that are used today.
Santorum needs a history lesson.
As does Canada which in Huron-Iroquois (kanata) means village.
Interesting bit of history, Hallux.
I don’t find that persuasive.
Native Americans are Americans and part of this country. Santorum's comment clearly indicates, intentionally or not, that they are not.
It was a very offensive comment and someone who has been around as long as Santorum should have known that. End of story.
They are now, but considering the unique status of reservations, even that is somewhat of a fringe relationship. Santorum was correct when he said the United States of America - as a political nation - was not built on anything that existed here, including what the natives were doing. The European settlers pushed the natives out of the way and set up their institutions according to their own traditions. Furthermore, even societal cultural norms were based on European traditions. The natives were adversaries of this new country in every way for generations.
That is history. That is how it happened. Saying so is not offensive, but being proud of it arguably is.
Are you seriously positing that Santorum was talking about the US as a 'political nation'? Come on man...
Yes, we became citizens in 1924, what does the status of reservations, which you should attempt to explain have to do with what you consider a fringe citizenship relationship?
Nonsense but even if that were true please explain this.
The Iroquois Confederacy, founded by the Great Peacemaker in 1142 1 , is the oldest living participatory democracy on earth 2 . In 1988, the U.S. Senate paid tribute with a resolution 3 that said, "The confederation of the original 13 colonies into one republic was influenced by the political system developed by the Iroquois Confederacy, as were many of the democratic principles which were incorporated into the constitution itself."
Are you aware of what nation was the first to be allied with the US in their fight for Independence. Here is a hint, The Oneida Indian Nation.
Are you aware of who were the people that helped save George Washington when they were suffering at Valley Forge...Here is another hint, The Oneida Indian Nation. Look up Polly Cooper and Shenandoah. There are statues honoring them in Washington D.C.
Many times we were but that's what happens when you invade a country, people fight back. On the other hand Native Americans have fought on the side of the US in every war starting with the Revolutionary War to the present wars.
American Indians have served in our nation's military since colonial times. In recent decades, they have served at a higher rate in proportion to their population than any other ethnic group .
That is Santorums and your interpretation which is not supported by reality.
Not just that. I also talked about societal and cultural norms. Perhaps you didn‘t read that far, though.
If you disagree, you are free to say what you think he was talking about.
If you don’t consider being pushed onto unwanted land and denied citizenship for 150 years “fringe” I don’t know what else to tell you.
If Santorum’s point was that the United States was not built on an existing nation and that it was done without the natives, then the status of natives in that founding - and in the years after - might speak to that. Since natives were aggressively excluded from inclusion in US society and government, and their ways were popularly considered savage and repulsive, that gives us some indication of how little those early Americans thought of any existing native institutions.
You can’t have it both ways. You can’t argue that Europeans thought highly enough of natives to somehow build on native systems and simultaneously observe how terribly they treated those same natives. It makes no sense.
Can we observe individual moments of cooperation and respect? Of course. But those moments do not reflect the larger trends.
As I said, Santorum is observing history (however simplisticly) , and I don’t have a problem with that, but being proud of it is where I think it becomes a little more problematic.
That is exactly what has happened, history proves it.
Moosh noosh doesn't get it. Never will.
I didn't ask you what YOU talked about, I asked you if you are positing that Santorum was talking the US as a 'political nation'. I KNOW that you read that far because it's just ONE sentence and you block quoted it.
Answer?
History PROVES that they are not mutually exclusive. Why try to pretend otherwise?
Your question has been answered. All you have to do is read. Have a nice day.
lol, dumbass Rick.
What an insulting comment. Centuries after a well documented genocide of a people and a culture, he has the nerve to say that about Indians. How utterly ignorant of him.
he's making a bid to be the grand marshal in the local columbus day parade.
He needs to take his own advice.