U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) has been accused of racism and white nationalism after he gave a speech in which he declared that pilgrims and George Washingtons Continental Army fought for and built this country for us as a birthright.Speaking at the National Conservatism Conference, Schmitt said the pilgrims and army believed they were fighting for a nation, a homeland for themselves and their descendants, adding, They fought, they bled, they struggled, they died for us, he declared. They built this country for us. America, in all its glory is their gift to us, handed down across the generations. It belongs to us. Its our birthright, its our heritage, our destiny. If America is everything and everyone, then it is nothing and no one at all. Related Marjorie Taylor Greene rails at misogynistic pig Don Lemon for visiting her office He then denounced new people who believe they can build a new America by changing the stories we tell about ourselves, The New Civil Rights Movement reported. George Washingtons Continental Army included an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 free and enslaved Black men who served in racially integrated units. However, one can hardly say that the country belongs to the white colonialists who would later form the earliest states. In reality, white colonists slaughtered the Native Americans who lived on the land that is now the United States, and Black slaves majorly contributed to building the nations capital and economy through their unpaid and involuntary labor. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Our ancestors would be astonished to learn that they were fighting for a proposition.They believed they were forging a nationa homeland for themselves and their descendants.America belongs to us, and only us.If we disappear, then America, too, will cease to exist. pic.twitter.com/MBqoP2xNZN Senator Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt) September 2, 2025 In response to his speech, MSNBC/NBC News political analyst Cornell Belcher wrote via X, This is ignorant. This is also textbook white nationalism. And by the way, fun fact, youre ancestors werent the only ones who built this country so f**k off.Journalist Roland Martin wrote. This is 100% RACIST. No shock that a member of the @SenateGOP would say this. And not one mainstream network will call this trash out.Schmitt cosponsored a bill to slash a wildly successful, international HIV-prevention program. As Missouris Attorney General, he signed onto an amicus brief that argued against the inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals under workplace discrimination bans.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.