DEBUNKED: The left's claims about Christopher Columbus are FALSE



On Monday, America celebrated Columbus Day. Or if you’re a virtue-signaling lefty, the country observed “Indigenous Peoples' Day.”

To those progressives, Liz Wheeler says, “You’re a loser.”

Columbus Day “triggers the left. They think that Christopher Columbus was an evil person; they claim he's a mass murderer who engaged in genocide, slavery – all different kinds of accusations against imperialism, accusations of personal bad character – and I just want to spend today … debunking these lies,” she says.

The accusations directed toward Christopher Columbus, according to Liz, are just part of the left’s agenda to “demonize white men and America.”

Democrats want to “tear down our country, tear down our rule of law, tear down our government,” which is why they defame the white men who built our country, she says.

In regard to the left’s claims that Columbus is guilty of genocide, Liz says, “It’s a historically ignorant claim.”

“According to historians, the population of North America in 1492, the year that Columbus landed, was approximately 20 million people. Within two centuries … approximately 95% of that 20 million people were dead,” she explains.

However, the astronomical decline in population had nothing to do with Columbus. The 95% of people who died were killed “almost entirely by disease,” specifically by the smallpox virus.

As for the claims that Columbus engaged in slavery, Liz says that yes, that claim is true.

“Yes, he did [engage in slavery], and that's wrong and there's no excuse for that,” she says, adding that “almost everybody took part in slavery” in that time period, regardless of skin color.

“Doesn't make it morally right,” but it does offer an “explanation,” she says, adding that the natives the left loves to paint as victims also “warred against each other and took each other as slaves and killed each other and raped each other.”

“Doesn't make it right, but it does change the context of how the left tries to portray Christopher Columbus,” says Liz.

To hear her debunk the left’s claims that Christopher Columbus was an imperialist and a man of poor character, watch the clip above.

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Harris haunted by her revisionism and past attacks on Columbus Day



Leftists have worked feverishly in recent years to deracinate and disorient the population, severing America's ties with its history and vilifying those dynamic figures who paved the way for the United States to ultimately become the envy of the world.

Over the course of this resentment-fueled campaign, iconoclasts and revisionists have changed place names, renamed species, toppled hundreds of statues, melted down busts, removed church windows, advanced bogus alternate histories, dug up graves, and built a parasitic industry geared toward racial division.

The Trump campaign and other critics issued reminders Monday that Kamala Harris has long been a proponent of this campaign — and that Columbus Day is one of her many targets.

Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign, told Fox News Digital, "Kamala Harris is your stereotypical leftist. Not only does she want to raise taxes and defund the police, she also wants to cancel American traditions like Columbus Day."

Leavitt appears to have been referring to Harris' indication prior to the collapse of her previous presidential campaign that she would officially change "Columbus Day" to "Indigenous Peoples' Day."

When asked at a 2019 town hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, whether she supported the controversial name change, the Washington Times reported that Harris first began by talking about legislating to make lynching a federal crime.

'Those explorers ushered in a wave of devastation for tribal nations — perpetrating violence, stealing land, and spreading disease.'

"People did not want to deal and accept and most importantly admit that we are the scene of a crime when it comes to what we did with slavery and Jim Crow and institutionalized racism in this country, and we have to be honest about that," said then-Sen. Harris. "If we are not honest, we are not going to deal with the vestiges of all of that harm, and we are not going to correct course, and we are not going to be true to our values and morals."

Harris added, "Similarly when it comes to indigenous Americans, the indigenous people, there is a lot of work that we still have to do, and I appreciate and applaud your point and your effort, and count me in on support."

On her first Columbus Day as vice president, Harris issued a statement effectively condemning the immigrants who first diversified the continent:

It is an honor to be with you this week as we celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day, as we speak truth about our nation's history. Since 1934, every October the United States has recognized the voyage of the European explorers who first landed on the shores of the Americas. But that is not the whole story. That has never been the whole story. Those explorers ushered in a wave of devastation for tribal nations — perpetrating violence, stealing land, and spreading disease. We must not shy away from this shameful past, and we must shed light on it and do everything we can to address the impact of the past on native communities today.

In 2022 and 2023, Harris doubled down, celebrating the Columbus Day alternate.

Columbus Day, which commemorates the daring 15th-century Italian whose four transatlantic voyages opened the way for European exploration of Americas, is one of 11 official federal holidays.

The Pew Research Center noted that it was first observed as a federal holiday in 1937 — initially conceived of as a celebration of Italian-American heritage and largely the result of lobbying by the Knights of Columbus.

The Knights of Columbus is a Catholic fraternal organization known for its charitable outreach. Not only does Harris want to rename its hard-won holiday, she has suggested that the group's members' Catholic faith disqualifies them from serving in federal courts.

As of October 2023, only 16 American states and the territory of America Samoa observe the second Monday in October as an official public holiday called Columbus Day.

Axios noted that the day is officially known as "Indigenous Peoples' Day" in New Mexico, Maine, Vermont, and Washington, D.C.

President Joe Biden proclaimed Oct. 14, 2024, both "Indigenous Peoples' Day" and Columbus Day.

"President Trump will make sure Christopher Columbus' great legacy is honored and protect this holiday from radical leftists who want to erase our nation's history like Kamala Harris," added Leavitt.

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Iconoclasts tore down a Columbus statue in Providence, Rhode Island. The defiant mayor of its new hometown can't be happier: 'He's here.'



Christopher Columbus' four transatlantic voyages opened the way for European exploration of the Americas. While once held in high regard for his daring and ambition — such that counties, cities, and towns across the United States were named after him — in recent years, he has been subjected to routine defamation and denunciations by leftists.

As part of this ongoing anti-Western campaign, iconoclasts have sought to deface and raze various Columbus statues. The 15th-century Italian's statue in Providence, Rhode Island, was no exception. The city saw fit to tear down the monument amid the costly BLM riots in 2020.

The historic statue, which is over a century old, has since found a home in a town unembarrassed by its history.

Joseph Polisena Jr., the mayor of Johnston, Rhode Island, noted in a Sept. 26 post on X, "He's here."

"A huge thank you to all the companies that donated their time and resources to get this done," wrote Polisena. "Our Columbus Day event will be on Monday, October 9 at 11am."

— (@)

What's the background?

The 6,000-pound Columbus statue had stood at Elmwood and Reservoir Avenues in Providence since 1893.

In the lead-up to the 2020 BLM riots, vandals took to splashing the statue with red paint, on at least one occasion spray-painting, "Stop celebrating genocide," reported the Associated Press.

After the statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee was torn down in Richmond, Virginia, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City announced its plan to remove a statue of President Theodore Roosevelt, and radicals tore down the statue of abolitionist Hans Christian Heg in Madison, Wisconsin — just three of the hundreds of monuments toppled nationwide — Democrats in Rhode Island figured they would similarly go farther than red paint and blood libels.

The Providence Journal reported that former Democratic Mayor Jorge Elorza announced the statue's removal in June 2020, noting that a six-member committee would subsequently help the city determine what to do with it.

Protesters chanted, "Take it down! Take it down!" as a crane removed the statue and set it down on a flatbed truck.

— (@)

The historic monument was placed in storage for well over a year.

Ray Rickman, who headed the committee advising the city on what to do with the statue, said, "Columbus is not to be respected if you pay any attention," reported WJAR-TV.

Elorza made clear the statue wouldn't be returning to its former spot, saying, "It's either insulting to a certain group or it's going to get destroyed. And if it doesn’t get destroyed, it's going to take a lot of resources from the city to keep it from being destroyed, and we still can't guarantee it."

Defying the iconoclasts

Former Providence Mayor and U.S. Ambassador to Malta Joseph Paolino Jr. ultimately bought the statue for $50,000 after it had been left to gather dust, reported the Providence Journal.

Paolino understood that the statue was "a symbol of Italian culture," which he did not want to see melted down and turned into scrap metal.

Paolino subsequently reached out to see whether Johnston, a town of roughly 30,000, would take it. After all, 49.5% of Johnston's residents reportedly have Italian heritage, and its mayor had previously indicated he'd make a home for the statue.

Johnston Mayor Polisena ultimately seized upon the former mayor's offer, stressing Columbus is a "very important figure for Italian-Americans"; a historic figure who "really ushered in the modern era ... the age of discovery."

While acknowledging that nobody is perfect, Polisena said, "I don't judge people who lived 500 years ago based on modern standards. I'm sure 500 years from now, people will look back on some of the things we did and say, 'I can't believe they did that.'"

The mayor noted that the reactions to the statue have so far been positive, but that prospective critics can rest assured that no tax money was spent on the statue.

The Associated Press indicated leftists farther afield are already fuming.

Harrison Tuttle, a failed Democratic candidate for state Senate and current resident of the Black Lives Matter Rhode Island PAC, said, "You don't have to be Indigenous to understand the harm that Christopher Columbus inflicted. ... To see it go back up is really tone deaf to all the progress we made just three years ago."

Johnston's Columbus Day event is unlikely to be a one-off.

"I'm hoping to make it an annual event," said the mayor. "People should learn about him, the good and the bad."

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WATCH: Pat Gray RIPS Vice President Kamala Harris' anti-American Columbus Day speech



Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris issued a virtual address at the National Congress of American Indians 78th annual convention. In her speech, she claimed that President Joe Biden's Build Back Better agenda would help correct the "damage and devastation" inflicted by European immigrants.

In this clip, Pat Gray, host of "Pat Gray Unleashed," expressed frustration for the way Vice President Harris spoke about the history of the United States of America.

"What other nation on Earth does this?" Pat asked.

"This is the only nation on Earth where our so-called leaders talk about what a garbage country the United States is every chance they get," Pat said.

He noted that historically, life among Native American tribes was "not exactly peaceful" prior to the arrival of European settlers.

In a sarcastic tone, Pat joked that "they [Native Americans] were in love with one another. They were always at peace with one another. They didn't ever hurt anything, not even a fly. If a fly came along, they would pet the fly."

Watch the clip to hear more of the conversation. Can't watch? Download the podcast here.


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