Politics
Rick Santorum dropped by CNN after being slammed for claiming there was ‘nothing in America before white people’
CNN has dropped Rick Santorum after he claimed there was “nothing” in America before white colonizers arrived.
The former Republican senator and presidential candidate sparked outrage when he made the racist comments – including that indigenous people contributed nothing to the country’s culture.
Rick Santorum has been dropped by CNN after being slammed for racist comments[/caption]
Santorum had his contract terminated with the network following the statements about Native Americans last month, HuffPost reports.
He told students during a Young America’s Foundation event: “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.”
Santorum faced huge backlash for the remarks, including damnation from prominent indigenous-led organizations like the National Congress of American Indians and IllumiNative.
Campaigners spent weeks demanding CNN cut ties with Santorum over his remarks but the network stayed silent.
But a CNN senior exec told HuffPost today that a decision to drop him came about after he made a ‘non-apology’ on Cuomo Prime Time shortly after his comments.
During the programme, he said he “misspoke” and his words were taken “out of context” – but he did not say sorry.
Santorum claimed there was ‘nothing’ in America before white colonizers arrived[/caption]
The source said Santorum blew it and nobody at the network wanted to keep him around, adding: “Leadership wasn’t particularly satisfied with that appearance.
“None of the anchors wanted to book him. So he was essentially benched anyway.
“I think after that appearance, it was pretty clear we couldn’t use him again.”
CNN anchor Don Lemon, who follows Cuomo’s show on the network’s primetime schedule, said Santorum’s lack of apology was infuriating.
He said: “I can’t believe the first words out of his mouth weren’t ‘I’m sorry, I said something ignorant, I need to learn about the history of this country’.
“Did he actually think it was a good idea for him to come on television and try to whitewash the whitewash that he whitewashed?”
Celebrities including actor Mark Ruffalo called on CNN to ‘#RemoveRick’[/caption]
Santorum made a ‘non-apology’ on CNN after being heavily criticised for his remarks[/caption]
NCAI president Fawn Sharp last month described Santorum as an “unhinged and embarrassing racist” who “disgraces CNN and any other media company that provides him a platform”.
She added: “Televising someone with his views on Native American genocide is fundamentally no different than putting an outright Nazi on television to justify the Holocaust.
“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.”
On Thursday, indigenous-led groups held a “day of action” to pressure CNN to drop Santorum completely.
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Stars such as Mark Ruffalo, Joaquin Phoenix and Sarah Silverman joined forces in an open letter to execs demanding he be let go.
Ruffalo also tweeted: “@CNN, do everyone, but especially our Native brothers and sisters, a favor and #RemoveRick.”
Santorum has not publicly commented on the matter since.
