Things don’t look too good for Rick Santorum, a twice-failed presidential candidate who became a CNN commentator, after a clip of him making racist remarks about Native Americans appeared online.
The video was taken during a speech by Santorum last Friday at a white supremacist rally at the Young America’s Foundation conference, in which he proudly said that the culture of the United States was born “Judeo-Christian” values.
“We came here and created a blank slate. We have created a nation from nothing, ”he said. “I mean, there was nothing here. I mean, yeah, we have Native Americans, but frankly there isn’t a lot of Native American culture in American culture.
Now, several indigenous groups and their allies are urging CNN to fire Santorum, who has been a senior political commentator on the network since 2017.
In a statement, President of the National Congress of American Indians, Fawn Sharp, called him a “deranged and embarrassing racist who dishonours CNN and any other media company that provides it with a platform.”
“Any mainstream media organization should fire it or face a boycott from over 500 tribal nations and our allies across the country and around the world,” Sharp said.
Meanwhile, the Native American Journalists Association called on CNN to “immediately fire” Santorum and urged Native American and Alaskan journalists not to work with the network “following continued racist comments and callous reporting directed against the network. indigenous peoples.
And IllumiNative’s Crystal Echo Hawk said, “CNN must do more to include indigenous and diverse voices in its programming and fire Rick Santorum,” adding that “allowing him to propagate racism and white supremacy to the American public is unwise and irresponsible”.
An online petition calling on the network to fire Santorum has received nearly 6,000+ signatures, including from celebrities like Mark Ruffalo, who endorsed it on Twitter.
And then there is the avalanche of angry tweets from people who are angry with the network for not acting immediately and for keeping the radio silent on the subject …
. @ CNN has the right to continue to broadcast @ RickSantorum’s tasteless comments if it wishes.
But he also has an obligation to denounce Santorum’s blatantly racist remarks about Native Americans.
So far it’s been two days of silence
– Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) April 28, 2021
Rick Santorum’s horrific comments against Native Americans should earn him an immediate dismissal from CNN. And what is this ‘us’ Rick thing, your dad’s name was Aldo and he came here on a ship from Italy, your mom was of Irish descent. You’re an immigrant like the rest of us, asshole.
– NoelCaslerComedy (@CaslerNoel) April 26, 2021
Hey @CNN, how many Native American political commentators do you have?
Since you are giving a platform to people like Rick Santorum – whose entire career is based on scoring political points by taking cheap photos of LGBTQ people, people of color and now Native Americans.
– Rebecca Nagle (@rebeccanagle) April 26, 2021
Dear @CNN,
WHY are you ALWAYS paying Rick Santorum to spread his racist message?
– D. Earl Stephens ?? (@EarlOfEnough) April 28, 2021
Having Rick Santorum on @CNN is the same as having Meghan McCain on @TheView, just because networks want different ideas on shows doesn’t mean they have to amplify fanatics and propagandists.
– David Weissman (@davidmweissman) April 26, 2021
Just a reminder, Rick Santorum compared relationships like the one I have with my husband to people who marry dogs, and CNN put him on their payroll anyway.
– Daniel Summers, MD (@WFKARS) April 26, 2021
Rick Santorum is racist and uneducated. I don’t watch CNN until it’s fired. It is not a culture of cancellation, it is minimum standards of historical knowledge and common decency that are not respected.
– Kate? (@ ImSpeaking13) April 27, 2021
I hope CNN replaces Rick Santorum with a Native American.
– I Smoked Giuliani’s Four Seasons Total Jail Cell (@ BlackKnight10k) April 27, 2021
In a statement, Santorum said he “had no intention of minimizing or devaluing in any way Native American culture” when he downplayed and devalued Native American culture.
Graham Gremore is editor and editor at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
