Rick Santorum Says He Was 'Savaged' for Telling the Truth After CNN Firing

Former CNN political commentator Rick Santorum has responded to the network's decision to fire him and defended controversial remarks about Native Americans and the founding of the U.S.

Santorum told Fox News' Sean Hannity on Monday that while CNN had the right to fire him, he had been "savaged" for telling the truth. He also criticized comments from CNN's Don Lemon.

Speaking at an event for conservative group Young Americans Foundation on April 23, Santorum, who is a former Republican senator from Pennsylvania, said the U.S. was formed out of "nothing" and appeared to dismiss Native American culture.

"What I said was not at all disparaging towards Native Americans, what I was talking about is the founding of the United States of America and that Native Americans did not have a role in the founding of our country," Santorum told Hannity on Monday.

"Now you can say that's a bad thing or a good thing or the way we treated Native Americans was bad, but I was giving a talk to a group of young people talking about the founding principles of religious liberty and how important it was to the immigrants who came here to found this country. And that was an important value that was envied into our Constitution," Santorum said.

"One of the things I'm concerned about is that you get savaged by telling the truth," Santorum said. "I told the truth here and you have other people who believe you know, Don Lemon came on right after my interview and said that Native Americans founded the United States of America.

"And again, you are entitled to your opinion, but not the facts, and that's where I think we have gotten off-kilter here a little bit in America."

Santorum spoke to CNN's Chris Cuomo on May 3 and stressed that he was not trying to downplay what had happened to Native Americans.

"The way we treated Native Americans was horrific," Santorum said.

CNN host Don Lemon spoke to Cuomo about the Santorum interview on the same day during the handoff between their shows and strongly criticized the former senator.

"Europeans did not found this country. It was here, the Native Americans had this country before the Europeans came," Lemon said. "Yeah, the Europeans conquered the country, they colonized it, but it had nothing to do with the founding of this country, and he should recognize that."

Speaking to Hannity on Monday, Santorum claimed some contributors at CNN were concerned about "cancel culture" at the network.

"CNN has a right to fire me if they don't like what I'm saying or what they are doing," Santorum told Hannity. "I have no animus, I appreciate the opportunity that they gave me, but it shows that the left is intolerant. They are worried, I'm sure that their viewership which is very left was going to pay a price.

"And the intolerance of the left is the issue in the cancel culture that is flowing from it. And I hear from a lot of liberals, in fact many CNN contributors who talked to me afterward, who were very, very concerned about the cancel culture that is now hitting them at CNN."

In his speech on April 23, Santorum said Europeans "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," he said.

Newsweek has asked CNN for comment.