It took three weeks but CNN has finally fired Rick Santorum for his racist remarks about Native Americans that drew national and international outrage.
While speaking to a conservative youth group last month, Santorum made it sound like Native Americans have not contributed at all to American history and culture, giving all the credit to white people.
“We came here and created a blank slate. 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,” he said.
The statement drew instant backlash because he’s not only wrong about the contribution made by Native Americans, it should be pointed out that white people committed genocide against Native Americans, making his remark about how colonists came here and “created a blank slate” all the more outrageous.
In fact, Native American contributions to American culture can be found in every single state. The names of many cities, states, and rivers have Native American origins. Some of the food we eat such as corn and squash were grown by Native Americans. Native Americans have fought in our wars from the American Revolution to World War II to the present, serving with distinction.
Without Native Americans, the Pilgrims would not have survived that first winter after arriving in the New World all the way back in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Native Americans have been frequently portrayed on film and television, in the pages of many books, and— for better or worse— have had sports organizations named after them. Native Americans have contributed by becoming actors, athletes, soldiers, scientists, police officers, firefighters, doctors, etc…
Santorum’s remarks were not just racist, they were ignorant. And that’s why CNN fired him, especially after he failed to apologize and claimed he “misspoke” on the air.
Twitter users not only hailed his termination, but they also scolded the network for hiring him in the first place and for taking so long to do the right thing.
CNN finally terminated Rick Santorum after his racist comments about Native Americans. For heaven’s sake, that took way too long!
— Amy Siskind 🏳️🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) May 22, 2021
HOLY SHIT, Rick Santorum has been shit canned by CNN!
AWESOME Saturday news!
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) May 22, 2021
Awesome. @CNN has terminated white supremacist Rick Santorum. Finally. Thank you. What he said about Native Americans was unconscionable. And thanks to everyone for pushing for this. We did it. Stay relentless. It works.
🙏🏽
— Jason Overstreet 🩸🦷🗽 (@JasonOverstreet) May 22, 2021
BREAKING: CNN finally fired Rick Santorum, just four years after they never should have fucking hired him in the first place.
— Steve Hofstetter (@SteveHofstetter) May 22, 2021
CNN terminated Rick Santorum’s contract and I’m just wondering why it took so long.
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) May 22, 2021
NEW: CNN finally terminates contract with senior political commentator Rick Santorum after he made up racist lies about Native Americans.
It’s disgraceful they had him on for so many years in the first place.
— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) May 22, 2021
In reality, this was when CNN should have bid Santorum farewell.
Hanging out with Russian spies should have been a red flag about his credibility.🙄 pic.twitter.com/odB2RsOxwV
— Leslieoo7 ☠️ 🇺🇲 (@Leslieoo7) May 22, 2021
Hey Siri–“what is the least they can do?”https://t.co/auWksPlolg
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) May 22, 2021
Rick Santorum got fired by CNN? Huh, I guess he wasn’t responsible enough to carry his contract to full term.
— Charlotte Clymer 🏳️🌈 (@cmclymer) May 22, 2021
Now if only CNN and other networks would just fire the rest of the incendiary conservatives who should not have a platform to spread their lies and hate.
Featured Image: Screenshot