Last updated on July 9th, 2021 at 07:59 am
Over the weekend, Rep. Cori Bush (MO) noted that not all Americans feel the same way about the 4th of July. She noted on her Twitter page, “When they say that the 4th of July is about American freedom, remember this: the freedom they’re referring to is for white people. This land is stolen land and Black people still aren’t free.”
When they say that the 4th of July is about American freedom, remember this: the freedom they’re referring to is for white people.
This land is stolen land and Black people still aren’t free.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) July 4, 2021
This enraged Fox host Jesse Watters who brought up the message on Tuesday. The Five host claimed, “Congresswoman Bush said two things. Really dumb things. She says this land was stolen. This land wasn’t stolen. We won this land on the battlefield and we bought it, right? We purchased Spain–I mean we purchased Florida from Spain. We have the receipts. What, do you want to give Florida back to Spain?”
Co-host Geraldo Rivera retorted, “How about the Seminoles?”
Watters continued, “Well, what about them, Geraldo? We won that territory on the battlefield. It was an ugly, brutal battle, but we won it. We’re not just gonna give everything back to the indigenous people of this country.”
Fox News host Jesse Watters on land originally settled by Native Americans that was taken over by Europeans and became part of the US: "This land wasn't stolen. We won this land on the battlefield." pic.twitter.com/ikPewOgHyI
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 7, 2021
The Fox host then moved onto the second part of Bush’s tweet about the freedom of Black Americans. “St. Louis, which Bush represents, has a Black mayor, district attorney, and police chief. So are you saying these Black leaders are denying freedom to the Black people of St. Louis? That’s insane.”
Bush’s tweet isn’t all that newsworthy. But it’s the exact kind of thing that Fox jumps all over to stir up white grievance.
Todd Neikirk is a New Jersey based politics and technology writer. His work has been featured in psfk.com, foxsports.com and hillreporter.com. He enjoys sports, politics, comic books and spending time at the shore with his family.
