Rick Santorum Out at CNN After Backlash Over Native American Comments

Former Republican Senator Rick Santorum is out as a commentator at CNN, a network representative confirmed to TheWrap.

His ouster comes weeks after outcry over comments the Pennsylvania Republican made about Native Americans in an April speech. His Twitter bio still identifies him as a senior political commentator for the network, which he joined in January 2017.

In April, Santorum gave a speech for Young America’s Foundation, a conservative youth group, in which he claimed there “isn’t much Native American culture in American culture” and said colonizers “birthed a nation from nothing.” A video clip of his speech went viral on social media, leading to public backlash against Santorum.

“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,” the former senator and two-time presidential candidate said. “It was born of the people who came here pursuing religious liberty.”

The pushback was immediate. IllumiNative, a nonprofit focused on challenging negative narratives about Native Americans, called on CNN to fire Santorum at the end of April. Even CNN’s Don Lemon had sharp criticism for colleague Chris Cuomo when Cuomo allowed Santorum on his show following the comments. During that appearance, Santorum did not apologize, which particularly irked Lemon.

A representative for Santorum did not immediately return a request for comment.

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