CNN Called Jefferson’s 1776 War Grievance a Slur and Aired It Five Days Before America’s 250th Birthday
CNN just told its viewers America's founding document is racist.
Now the network is zeroing in on a single 250-year-old grievance to make sure nobody enjoys the birthday.
What CNN called that passage on live television five days before July 4th is something you need to see.
How CNN Decided to Greet America's 250th Birthday
Victor Blackwell opened his Saturday morning show First of All with a declaration of his own: the Declaration of Independence contains a slur.
The grievance he targeted was number 27 – the final item in Thomas Jefferson's list of charges against King George III. The passage accused the British monarch of inciting Native American tribes to attack colonial settlers along the frontier during the Revolutionary War. Jefferson's language called them "merciless Indian savages."
"He has excited domestic insurrections among us and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions,” it says.
Blackwell admitted on air he had only recently discovered the passage himself. That didn't stop him from concluding it was his patriotic duty to make sure viewers knew about it before they started their Fourth of July plans.
He brought in Cherokee podcaster Rebecca Nagle to confirm his thesis. Nagle told viewers that Americans are trained to celebrate the founding document's high-minded ideals while ignoring what she called the Founders' "deep hatred for indigenous people." She argued the line is "not a throwaway line."
Nobody pushed back. Nobody offered context. Nobody explained that Jefferson was writing a legal indictment of a king – not a policy statement – or that the phrase reflected the brutal frontier warfare of the era. CNN wasn't interested in history. It was interested in the verdict.
This Is a Pattern, Not a Segment
Blackwell didn't invent this angle. NPR ran the same segment in 2021 under the headline "Examining a Racist Passage in the Declaration of Independence." That broadcast framed the language in Grievance 27 as a tool used to "perpetuate genocide, stealing of land and other crimes against Indigenous people."
But as NewsBusters noted, the NPR segment at least offered some nuance. CNN's version skipped straight to the condemnation.
That's the progression. What was a niche academic grievance five years ago is now CNN's preferred pre-holiday programming. They've run the numbers on what drives engagement among their remaining viewers, and apparently making Americans feel ashamed of their own founding documents is part of the business model.
The timing is not accidental. America's 250th birthday is days away. Trump's Freedom 250 celebration is generating patriotic momentum across the country. Tens of millions of Americans are preparing to celebrate. CNN's response was to run a segment calling the Declaration racist.
This is what the network does now. Ali Velshi at MS NOW announced last month he felt "deep unease" about celebrating the Fourth. Mark Kelly went on ABC and blamed Trump for Democrats not wanting to celebrate. The whole operation is coordinated around a single goal: make conservative Americans feel guilty for loving their country.
What They're Actually Saying
Nagle told viewers that people asking "how could this be happening in the United States?" – a reference to the Trump era – would understand the current moment better if they understood how the country started. She used a history lesson about 1776 to make a political argument about 2026.
That's the tell. This wasn't journalism. It was a framing exercise. CNN used Grievance 27 as a wedge to connect America's founding to contemporary left-wing politics. If the country was rotten at its roots, then everything that grows from it – including the America First movement, Trump's presidency, and the 250th birthday celebration – is also rotten.
Your great, great, grandfather didn't fight for a slur. He fought for the ideals in that same document – the ones that say all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights. Those words are in the Declaration too. CNN just isn't interested in those lines this week.
The network that lost forty percent of its viewers in a single year can't sell patriotism. So it sells guilt instead. Don't let them sell it to you.
Sources:
- Tim Graham, "Happy Fourth! CNN Highlights 'Slur' Against Indians in Declaration of Independence," NewsBusters, June 29, 2026.
- "CNN Host Slams 'Slur' in Declaration of Independence Ahead of USA's 250th Bday," Mediaite, June 27, 2026.
- "Mark Kelly Blames Trump for Lack of Liberal Joy Over America's 250th Birthday," Mediaite, June 28, 2026.
- "Ratings Roundup: CNN Sees 40% Year-Over-Year Decline in July," Barrett Media, August 1, 2025.
- "Examining A Racist Passage In The Declaration Of Independence," NPR, July 2, 2021.
