Rick Santorum Says 'Nothing' Was In America Before White Colonizers Arrived

CNN senior political commentator Rick Santorum said Friday that there was nothing in America before white colonizers arrived and that Native Americans havent contributed much to American culture anyway.

We birthed a nation from nothing. I mean, there was nothing here, Santorum, a former Republican senator from Pennsylvania, told students during remarks at a Young Americas Foundation event. I mean, yes, we have Native Americans, but candidly, there isnt much Native American culture in American culture.

Heres a video of his full remarks aimed at young conservatives. His comments about Native Americans begin around the 20:38 mark.

","type":"video","meta":{"author":"Young America's Foundation","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4-AGCUwX7C-D4BsBook9fQ","cache_age":86400,"description":"Young Americas Foundation created Standing Up for Faith & Freedom to advance opportunities for young conservatives that had previously been overlooked by existing efforts. Student leaders are most effective when they address issues that match up with the concerns of students on their campuses. Decades of teaching young people how to identify and respond to issues specific to their campuses demonstrate that students at Catholic schools need specialized training.","options":{"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/O7_OyMkYkkY/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"The Fight for Religious Freedom | Senator Rick Santorum | Standing Up For Faith & Freedom","type":"video","url":"https://action.news/watch?v=O7_OyMkYkkY","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"6086ddb7e4b05af50db9656b","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/rick-santorum-native-american-culture_n_6086ddb7e4b05af50db9656b","entryTagsList":"cnn,politics,rick-santorum,native-americans","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"us-news,media","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/d81c6029-95b0-4ee2-b706-7d9e11d606fd/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":11},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"6086ddb7e4b05af50db9656b","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"CNN","slug":"cnn","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/cnn","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/cnn","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/cnn"},"relegenceId":3454339,"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Media","slug":"media"},"topic":{"title":"CNN","slug":"cnn","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/cnn"},{"name":"Politics","slug":"politics","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/politics","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/politics","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/politics"},"relegenceSubjectId":982065,"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Politics News","slug":"politics-news","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/politics-news"},{"name":"Rick Santorum","slug":"rick-santorum","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/rick-santorum","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/rick-santorum","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/rick-santorum"},"relegenceId":4240727,"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Rick Santorum","slug":"rick-santorum","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/rick-santorum"},{"name":"Native Americans","slug":"native-americans","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/native-americans","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/native-americans","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/native-americans"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"U.S. News","slug":"us-news"},"topic":{"title":"Native Americans","slug":"native-americans","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/native-americans"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">