The Washington Post's Cat Zakrzewski was interviewing Senator Josh Hawley of Michigan about a Pennsylvania court dismissing a challenge to the election of Joe Biden when the Republican grumbled (beginning at 1:47 of the video below)
No, hold on. No, no, no, no, no. You can't have it both ways, Cat. No, you can't have it both ways. You can't say they dismissed- you can't say they heard the merits and dismissed it. That's wrong. That's wrong. The Supreme Court didn't hear the merits of the..... no, hold on. It's an important point. Listen, it's an important point. Don't try to censor, cancel, and silence me here.
That's rich. The Washington Post gives Senator Hawley a platform and he tells the reporter she is trying to "censor, cancel, and silence" him (impressive piece of psychological projection, though).
On Monday night CNN's Chris Cuomo had the temerity to interview a guy Twitter already has determined is an irredeemable racist. At a Young America Foundation conference in March, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum maintained
We birthed a nation. From nothing. There was nothing here. Yes, we have Native Americans, but there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture. It was born of the people who came here, pursuing religious liberty, to practice their faith, to live as they ought to live, and have the freedom to do so. Religious liberty.
Cuomo directly confronted Santorum on the substance of his remarks and the former Senator conceded
Just to be clear what I was not saying is that Native American culture…I misspoke…what I was talking about is the founding of the country. I gave a long talk about the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and what I was saying is that we sort of created that anew, if you will. I was not trying to dismiss Native Americans. In fact, I mentioned them because they were here and they did have an impact. In fact, in this country you are right, they did have a huge impact.
But that acknowledgement of error was not enough because while conservatives such as Hawley object to being confronted about their actions, some liberals object to cultural conservatives being given a platform where they are challenged by an ideologically hostile interlocutor. In thecrossover from Chris "Cuomo Prime Time" to "Don Lemon Tonight," Don Lemon heatedly objected
I was furious watching that interview in my office. I can't believe the first words out of his mouth weren't "I'm sorrry. I said something ignorant. I- you know, I need to learn something about the history of this country. No contrition- didn't talk about the suffering Native Americans have had to deal with in this country.
In fact, the former senator did go further than almost any politician will, having admitted "they (Native Americans) were here and they did have an impact. In fact, in this country you are right, they did have a huge impact." However, neither Santorum nor anyone will get on his or her knees and beg forgiveness, beseeching "I said something ignorant."
Begging forgiveness is between Santorum and his God, not between Santorum and other human beings. It's not going to happen as Lemon wishes, even if the latter is so condescending as to demand that Santorum plead "I need to learn something about the history of this country."
It didn't get any more realistic when Lemon continued
Europeans did not found this country. Yes the Europeans conquered this country. They colonized it. But they didn't- it had nothing to do with the founding of this country and he should recognize that.
Actually, the Europeans did found this nation. That's not opinion; that's fact. Native Americans founded the land, though that's a redundancy. Of course, native Americans founded America- it couldn't be otherwise. Their descendants originated in Asia and were nearly wiped out at least 15,000 years later by people who came here from the European continent.
After displaying a fair amount of genocidal skill, European-Americans proceeded to create a nation which they hoped would enforce their dominance. They helpfully did so with the Declaration of Independence, US Constitution, and some reasonably democratic institutions which we must constantly strive to perfect.
Having whiffed on American history, Lemon added
He should know that, especially if he's going to be on television representing us and talking about it. He should be doing it from the right perspective and not from some perspective about how Europeans- no! That's the wrong way to look at it.
It's just a guess, but it's likely lifelong right-wing Republican Rick Santorum wasn't asked on Cuomo's show to represent "us," but rather the viewpoint of, say, a lifelong right-wing Republican who had recently made the kind of remarks Santorum would be expected to make. If Lemon needed "the right perspective," someone with the same perspective could have been brought on to mouth Lemon's viewpoint. Instead, Santorum's feet were held to the fire by Cuomo. Oh, the horror of it all!
Chris Cuomo challenging Rick Santorum on comments about the contribution of indigenous people to this country. Cat Zakrzewski confronting Josh Hawley on his effort to block certification of a free and fair election of a President. It's real journalism, amidst all the whining and complaining about it.
>> @DonLemon's reaction to Rick Santorum's comments: "I apologize to the viewers who were insulted by this. I was sitting in my office, furious, because he's done it so many times. So many times..." pic.twitter.com/UD00zTalI7
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 4, 2021
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