Liberal CNN commentator Bakari Sellers slammed conservative Rick Santorum for comparing the morality of slavery to abortion.
On Tuesday, the two agreed that statues of historical figures such as President George Washington should not be taken down, but Sellers said they should be adjusted to acknowledge their ties to slavery.
“George Washington was a slave owner. Put that on the side of the statue so that when people go and watch and see and want to understand who George Washington is, they get the full picture of what our country once was,” Sellers said.
Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, took issue with the characterization, arguing that statues that pay tribute to historical figures need to contextualize the history of the time those individuals existed.
“Should it be known that he was a slave owner? Absolutely. No one is trying to hide that fact. No one is trying to bury that fact. But that shouldn’t be front and center of what George Washington is,” Santorum said, stating that without him, the country would not exist.
Sellers said he couldn’t reconcile Washington’s greatness with his “inhumanity” — the fact that Washington had slaves.
“I have a hard time reconciling people who are allowing people to be killed in the womb, but you know what? I do! And we all do,” Santorum asserted.
“That’s like apples and bobcats. There’s nothing the same about slavery and abortion,” Sellers replied, adding that some people are pro-abortion in cases of rape and incest.
“That’s less than 1% of abortions you describe in America,” Santorum said.
