THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH BS CAN YOU HANDLE?
SPARE ME THE BS. I’ve got things to do.
– Republican Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas celebrated Columbus Day on October 12 by calling Christopher Columbus “one of the great men of world history” and praising the role of Christianity and European settlers in building Western civilization.
– Gill declared that Americans were “no longer apologizing” for their history and culture. Critics zeroed in on his description of the New World as “wild lands,” arguing that it erased the Indigenous civilizations already living there.
– The post drew angry responses accusing Columbus of enslavement and brutality, while conservative commentators defended Gill’s refusal to apologize for Western history. His original message remained posted amid the backlash.
MORE TO IT. I’ve got time.
Rep. Brandon Gill marked Columbus Day with a celebration of Christopher Columbus, Christianity and Western civilization. It didn’t take long for the Texas Republican’s message to turn into a fight over American history.
Gill posted his remarks on X on Monday, October 12, calling Columbus “one of the great men of world history.”
He continued:
“Guided by faith in Christ, our European ancestors came to the New World, settled wild lands, and built western civilization.”
Then came the line that summed up his position:
“Our history and our culture are exceptional– and we’re no longer apologizing for it.”
That final declaration, combined with his description of the Americas as “wild lands,” ignited a stream of hostile replies.
One critic, posting under the name Lloyd, challenged the congressman’s account of settlement:
“One person’ ‘wild land’ is another person’s backyard. Where and when did you take US History?”
Another X user, identified as Billie Nelson, disputed Gill’s praise of Columbus by pointing to the explorer’s treatment of Indigenous peoples.
“He kidnapped Indigenous people and discussed conquering them,” the user wrote.
The response also accused Columbus of imposing forced labor and tribute demands on the Taíno people and sending captives to Spain to be sold into slavery.
Those accusations reflected the historical controversy at the center of the annual Columbus Day debate. Columbus’s voyages opened the way for sustained European colonization of the Americas, but his administration in the Caribbean was also associated with enslavement, coercive labor and violence against Indigenous populations.
Other replies were considerably less restrained.
One user posting as BRAIN accused Europeans of stealing land and killing its inhabitants, writing, “U people are savages,the real devil of the world.”
Another, using the name Akevv Flurry, accused Gill of racism for praising Columbus.
Conservative commentator Sam J., writing at Twitchy, highlighted the exchanges and defended the congressman’s argument that Americans should not feel obligated to apologize for their civilization’s achievements.
The disagreement was not simply over whether Columbus deserved praise. Critics objected to Gill’s portrayal of the Americas before European arrival, while his supporters emphasized the religious and cultural legacy of European settlement.
Gill has made similar arguments before, including challenging the language of land acknowledgments commonly used to recognize Indigenous peoples.
His latest message also arrived as President Donald Trump was renewing his own defense of Columbus Day.
On Sunday, October 11, Trump celebrated the holiday and denounced the removal of Columbus statues, declaring that the “days of plunder” were over.
Trump specifically praised Italian Americans and condemned activists who had targeted monuments to the explorer.
That placed Gill’s message within a broader political dispute over how Americans should remember Columbus: as a historic navigator whose voyages transformed the world, or as a figure whose legacy cannot be separated from the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples.
Gill’s post made clear which aspects of that history he wanted to celebrate.
And despite the hostile responses, the congressman had not withdrawn his Columbus Day message as of the reporting reviewed Tuesday morning.
