Rick Santorum Trashed by Don Lemon, Grilled by Chris Cuomo over Native American Remarks

Don Lemon blasted his CNN colleague Rick Santorum Monday for not apologizing over offensive remarks about Native American culture. Hours later, Santorum was grilled by Chris Cuomo on the same channel over the incendiary comments, claiming he “misspoke.”

Santorum, the former Republican senator for Pennsylvania, made the original comments at the conservative Young America’s Foundation on April 26.

“We birthed a nation from nothing,” he said. “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.”

Native Americans and others have since urged CNN to fire Santorum over his comments.

Speaking on his Monday night show, Lemon described Santorum’s comments as “horrible and insulting.”

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After accusing Santorum of “whitewashing,” Lemon apologized to viewers who were insulted by the pundit’s comments, adding that “Europeans did not found this country.”

“The native Americans had this country before the Europeans came. Yeah the Europeans conquered this country, they colonied it, but it had nothing to do with the founding of this country,” Lemon said.

Presenter Chris Cuomo, who was also on the show, contextualized Santorum’s remarks.

“This country is in a crisis that is all about identity,” Cuomo said. “And there is a wager being made on the right that they can get enough white people to believe that they are targeted that there’s been a perverse culture shift and that they are being replaced. True, no, but it’s not about facts, it’s about fear.”

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