CNN has dropped former senator and Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum as a contributor over comments he made about Native Americans a month ago.
Santorum has been a regular presence on the network as a political analyst, following events such as political debates and elections.
Jennifer Bendery reports at the HuffPost:
CNN Drops Rick Santorum After Racist Comments About Native AmericansCNN has terminated its contract with senior political commentator Rick Santorum after racist, inaccurate remarks he made about Native Americans, HuffPost has learned.Santorum, a former Republican senator and two-time failed GOP presidential candidate, sparked outrage last month after claiming there was “nothing” in America before white colonizers arrived and that Native people haven’t contributed much to American culture, anyway.“We birthed a nation from nothing. I mean, there was nothing here,” Santorum told students during remarks at a Young America’s Foundation event. “I mean, yes, we have Native Americans, but candidly, there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture.”Prominent Indigenous-led organizations including the National Congress of American Indians and Illuminative have spent weeks demanding that CNN fire Santorum over his remarks. National civil rights groups have also called for his firing. CNN has stayed silent on the matter.But on Saturday, a CNN senior executive told HuffPost that the network quietly ended its contract with Santorum this week.
The timing of this seems rather curious. Santorum’s comments were made a month ago, yet CNN has been under fire all this week over a report that host Chris Cuomo advised his brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, on how to deal with his sexual harassment scandal.
Chris Cuomo still has his job. In fact, he wasn’t even suspended.
Santorum’s role on the network was to be a reliably anti-Trump conservative voice. Perhaps the network no longer feels they need such a person.
Either way, leftists seem positively overjoyed with the decision, judging by the reactions on Twitter:
I doubt many conservatives will lose any sleep over Santorum’s ouster. It’s not like they watch CNN.
Featured image via YouTube.
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