CNN senior political commentator Rick Santorum is facing backlash for his comments regarding Native Americans.
The 62-year-old spoke to a conservative youth group when he stated, “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.”
Now many are calling for the network to fire Santorum for these comments. Crystal Echo Hawk, the executive director of IllumiNative, a nonprofit focused on fighting the erasure of Native Americans, spoke to Jennifer Bendery of Huff Post, stating her displeasure for the CNN political commentator said over Native Americans.
“American history that does not include Native peoples is a lie, and Rick Santorum is fueling white supremacy by erasing the history of Native peoples,” said Echo Hawk. “CNN must do more to include Indigenous and diverse voices in its programming and fire Rick Santorum.”
Other groups, such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations, call for CNN to fire Santorum for his comments over Native Americans as the organization issued a press release.
“CNN should never again invite Rick Santorum as a commentator after he attempted to whitewash the European genocide of this continent’s indigenous population and to dismiss the significance of Native America culture. We strongly support free speech — even by apparent white supremacists like Mr. Santorum — but freedom of speech does not guarantee a legitimizing platform on a mainstream media outlet,” the statement said.
Members in office also spoke about the matter as Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) used Twitter to call out the CNN political commentator. “Indigenous peoples are more American than Rick Santorum,” Fernández tweeted. There’s been no statement thus far from CNN regarding Santorum’s comments.
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
