Rick Santorum says 'there isn't much Native American culture in American culture'

• Former GOP Sen. Rick Santorum sparked backlash over comments made about Native Americans.
• "There isn't much Native American culture in American culture," Santorum said.
• Online critics accused Santorum of whitewashing US history.

Former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum sparked online backlash over recent remarks made at an event for a conservative youth organization in which he suggested Native Americans didn't contribute to the culture of the US.

"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 Pennsylvania Republican said at a Young America's Foundation event on Friday, in comments first reported by Media Matters for America.

"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. Those are the two bulwarks of America. Faith and freedom," Santorum, now a senior political contributor at CNN, went on to say. "I mean, you hear it all the time about faith and freedom, faith and freedom. But it is what makes America unique in the world."

Santorum was widely lambasted over his remarks, with many accusing him of whitewashing the atrocities committed against indigenous peoples.

Some accused Santorum of echoing the talking points of white nationalists.

Santorum's organization, Patriot Voices, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider. CNN also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Washington Post's Jeremy Barr tweeted a statement from Santorum per an outside representative: "I had no intention of minimizing or in any way devaluing Native American culture."