Fox News Guest: Columbus ‘Advocated for Humane Treatment of Native Peoples’ (Video)

“That’s utterly false,” Indian Country Today editor Simon Moya-Smith tells TheWrap

Was Christopher Columbus actually a humanitarian? Maybe so in the view of at least one guest this morning on “Fox & Friends?”

Jennifer Braceras, a former lawyer, took the stage on the popular Fox News morning show on Columbus day to laud the holiday’s namesake who she insisted was actually an advocate for Native Americans people — by the standards of his time.

“By those standards, Christopher Columbus was a pretty good guy. He was a check on bad behavior. Did bad things happen under Spanish colonization, of course? But he consistently advocated for humane treatment of the native peoples and that’s what gets lost in this whole debate,” she insisted.

“Is he perfect? Was he perfect?” inquired host Brian Kilmeade.

“Of course not, but you can’t judge historic figures by the standards of today,” said Braceras. “In fact here is a new poll out by Marist that says 60% of Americans want to continue to honor Christopher Columbus and more than 75% agree that we need to judge him by the standards of his own time.”

That rosy assessment was news to Simon Moya-Smith, Culture Editor at Indian Country Today, who blasted Braceras’ interpretation.

“That’s utterly false. Columbus did not advocate for humane treatment of the Natives he encountered,” he told The Wrap. “The Natives were enslaved and tortured. Columbus and his men … smashed babies against rocks and fed the flesh of Natives to their dogs.”

The growing controversy surrounding the holiday has forced the New York City police department to provide 24/7 security for the iconic statue in Columbus Circle, the New York Post reported.

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