'Incredible ignorance': Rick Santorum slammed for clueless remarks about Native Americans

Although former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was voted out of office in 2006 and hasn't won any elections since then, he has kept busy as a GOP activist and CNN pundit — and he emphasized his usual socially conservative "family values" themes during a recent speech for Young America's Foundation. Santorum referenced Native Americans during his speech, resulting in some scathing responses on Twitter.

Santorum, during his speech, argued that an emphasis on religious faith is what sets the U.S. apart from other developed countries — which is a common theme among social conservatives and the Christian Right.

The former Republican senator told attendees, "I don't know of any other country in the world that was settled predominantly by people who were coming to practice their faith…. They set up a country that was based on Judeo-Christian principles…. and the teachings of Jesus Christ…. It's in our DNA."

Santorum went on to say, "We birthed a nation from nothing. There was nothing here. I mean, yes, we have Native Americans, but candidly, there isn't much Native American culture in American culture. It was born of the people who came here pursuing religious liberty."

Twitter users, in response, reminded Santorum how brutally oppressed Native Americans were by North American settlers.