Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Rick Santorum Blasted For Claiming There Was 'Nothing' In America Before White Colonizers Arrived

Rick Santorum Blasted For Claiming There Was 'Nothing' In America Before White Colonizers Arrived
KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images

CNN political commentator Rick Santorum—a Republican former Senator and presidential candidate—is facing a slew of backlash after he claimed during a speech at a Young America's Foundation event there was "nothing" in the Americas before White colonizers arrived from Europe.

The viewpoint is central to the Manifest Destiny view of the 18th century and is perpetuated in modern society by White nationalist and White supremacist organizations.


Santorum went on to stick his foot more firmly into his mouth by claiming the Indigenous peoples that were already here haven't contributed much to American culture.

"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's comments ignored the fact that the systemic cultural genocide of America's Indigenous peoples contributed to why he thinks not much Indigenous culture has permeated "American culture." Integral parts of the cultures of the United States, Canada and Mexico are owed to the Indigenous peoples who populated North America for millennia before widespread European colonization, but often is not properly attributed to them in Eurocentric educational materials.

Santorum also ignored the thousands of years of culturally rich and diverse history before the colonizers arrived on the North American continent.

Hundreds of Indigenous communities existed in the United States before European invaders, conquerors and colonizers arrived. Each tribe had their own culture, values, language and traditions. Any of these communities and cultures that no longer exist are gone as a direct result of colonization.

The lack of Native American culture in the greater American consciousness is the result of intentional efforts to exterminate those cultures—laws against Indigenous people practicing their traditional spiritual or religious practices, the residential school system stealing away young children to forcibly integrate them into colonizers society by stripping them of their families and traditions, the Trail of Tears and other forced relocations, the list goes on and on.

However, the United States Constitution and the very federal structure of the United States is a direct result of studies of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and Powhatan confederacies. Three branches of government—with an executive, legislative and judicial branch—mirrors the way the Haudenosaunee handled their federation of the Kanienkéha:ka (Mohawk), Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga and Seneca nations.

The framers of the Constitution wrote of these inspirations, but a White supremacist based educational system buried these contributions for years until they were revived when the bicentennial of the Constitution was celebrated.

Dietary staples like corn, beans, squash, potatoes and chocolate are all contributions from Indigenous peoples. The Code Talkers of WWI and WWII utilized the languages the federal government had outlawed to make a major impact on the war efforts. Indigenous languages remained the unbreakable codes from both wars.

And those are just a handful of examples Santorum ignored.



This is far from the first time Santorum has royally stepped in it, so to speak.

He has had problematic takes that have garnered him online flack about many subjects over the past few years, including school shooting victims should take CPR classes instead of calling for gun control, Trump's abuse of presidential power through executive orders somehow being Obama's fault and Trump gaming the system to dodge taxes was A-OK.

Twitter at large responded to Santorum's callous disregard for Indigenous people's with ire, facts and a heavy dose of snark.


@AmyAThatcher/Twitter










Many people called for Santorum to be fired from his position with CNN.








Native Twitter was, understandably, especially upset by Santorum's incredibly harmful remarks.








@JasonSCampbell/Twitter

Santorum reportedly tried to backtrack and non-apologize for his remark.

One of his aids quoted Santorum saying:

"I had no intention of minimizing or in any way devaluing Native American culture."





You can view Santorum's entire remarks below.

His comment about Native Americans begins around the 20:35 mark.

youtu.be

More from Trending

Jeff Ross
Mike Coppola/Variety via Getty Images

Comedian Jeff Ross Shares Photos Of Puffed Up Lip After Allergic Reaction To Ice Cream

Insult comic Jeff Ross revealed he had a medical emergency after a show Saturday night that resulted in a trip to the ER. However, he assured fans the show must go on despite "looking like Mickey Rourke at the end of The Wrestler."

Ross recounted the ordeal on Instagram, showing his swollen lip taking over his face from eating burrata ice cream after his Take a Banana for the Ride show in Mill Valley, California, near San Francisco.

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshot of Jesse Watters on Fox News
Fox News

Jesse Watters Offers Mind-Numbing New Claim About Masculinity—And Is Instantly Dragged

Problematic Fox News MAGA pundit Jesse Watters has made another bizarre claim about masculinity.

Having already taken exception with eating ice cream, drinking milkshakes, and taking bubble baths, Watters is now targeting tech jobs.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump with the Dodgers
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Trump Leaves Everyone Confused With Hilariously Bizarre Word Salad Tribute To The Dodgers

President Donald Trump was widely mocked after he welcomed the 2024 World Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers to the White House on Monday with a bizarre, tangential, and rambling speech.

The team arrived at the White House on Monday morning, where Trump, in his remarks, praised two-way star Shohei Ohtani and infielder Mookie Betts. The Dodgers had defeated the New York Yankees in five games to clinch their second World Series title in five seasons.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Trump Roasted After Giving Clunky New Nickname To People Criticizing His Tariffs

President Donald Trump was criticized after he pushed back against critics of his tariffs, coming up with a new nickname for the "weak and stupid" people who oppose them.

The Trump administration’s newly imposed tariffs on imports from various countries have unsettled consumers, triggered a trade war, disrupted global markets, and sparked widespread fears of a potential recession in the U.S. and beyond.

Keep ReadingShow less

Childhood Experiences People Thought Were 'Normal' But Weren't At All

Content Warning: Child neglect, child abuse, narcissism, gaslighting, people-pleasing, and other traumatic childhood experiences

It's important for us to work on ourselves, to continue bettering ourselves throughout our limited time on this earth, and a key way of doing that is acknowledging what we do not know, and working on that.

Keep ReadingShow less