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OUTSPOKEN Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton has sparked fury after he called slavery a “necessary evil upon which the union was built”.

The Republican, 43, made the controversial remarks in an interview with the on Sunday promoting a new bill that would defund schools that taught the New York Times’ 1619 Project about slavery in the US.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton received a backlash over his comments about slavery
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Republican Senator Tom Cotton received a backlash over his comments about slaveryCredit: Getty Images - Getty
The Arkansas Senator defended his views on Twitter
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The Arkansas Senator defended his views on TwitterCredit: Twitter

Mr Cotton argued that slavery was a key piece of US history, saying: “As the founding fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built, but the union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction.”

He later defended his comments in a Twitter message saying he was just citing the founding fathers, a post that was later reposted by President Donald Trump.

Mr Cotton’s office said the senator does not personally believe slavery was a “necessary evil”.

Mr Cotton introduced his bill, the Saving American History Act, last week which wants to “prohibit the use of federal funds to teach the 1619 Project by K-12 schools or school districts”.

The New York Times launched its 1619 Project in 2019 to mark the 400th anniversary of African slaves' arrival in what would become the US.

The Times later teamed up with the nonprofit Pulitzer Center to create a curriculum based on the project for schools. 

As the founding fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built, but the union was built in a way, as Lincoln said, to put slavery on the course to its ultimate extinction

Republican Senator Tom Cotton

The project looks at how slavery shaped and continues to permeate through US society by expanding on early accounts that are largely left out of the historical narrative taught in most schools.

In the interview with the Democrat-Gazette, Cotton said: “The entire premise of the New York Times' factually, historically flawed 1619 Project… is that America is at root, a systemically racist country to the core and irredeemable.

“I reject that root and branch. America is a great and noble country founded on the proposition that all mankind is created equal. We have always struggled to live up to that promise, but no country has ever done more to achieve it.

“We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can't understand our country.”

Mr Cotton’s bill does not have any co-sponsors and is not expected to pass in Congress.

Nikole Hannah-Jones, the creator of the project said the bill “speaks to the power of journalism more than anything I've ever done in my career”.

America is a great and noble country founded on the proposition that all mankind is created equal. We have always struggled to live up to that promise, but no country has ever done more to achieve it

Senator Tom Cotton

She also reacted to Mr Cotton’s comments, tweeting: “If chattel slavery – heritable, generational, permanent, race-based slavery where it was legal to rape, torture, and sell human beings for profit – were a ‘necessary evil’ as Tom Cotton says, it's hard to imagine what cannot be justified if it is a means to an end.”

She added: “Imagine thinking a non-divisive curriculum is one that tells black children the buying and selling of their ancestors, the rape, torture, and forced labor of their ancestors for PROFIT, was just a "necessary evil" for the creation of the "noblest" country the world has ever seen.

“So, was slavery foundational to the Union on which it was built, or nah? You heard it from Tom Cotton himself.”

Mr Cotton responded in a Twitter message, writing: “More lies from the debunked 1619 Project. 

“Describing the views of the Founders and how they put the evil institution on a path to extinction, a point frequently made by Lincoln, is not endorsing or justifying slavery. No surprise that the 1619 Project can't get facts right.”

He also attacked media reports over his “necessary evil” comment, saying they were the “definition of fake news”.

“I said that *the Founders viewed slavery as a necessary evil* and described how they put the evil institution on the path to extinction, a point frequently made by Lincoln.”

That tweet drew the attention of President Trump, who retweeted it on his account.  

A spokesman for Cotton's office said: “As [Cotton's] quote makes clear, that view was held by some founding fathers. Reporting to the contrary is politically motivated and dishonest.”

Mr Cotton is seen as a possible contender for the White House in 2024 and is currently running unopposed for re-election this fall, after having won his seat by a wide margin in 2014.

He has previously clashed with the New York Times over an op-ed he wrote calling to deploy the military to break up protests against racism and police brutality. 

His column, entitled 'Send in the troops', sparked outage both outside and within the ranks of the Times, whose journalists branded it 'fascist' and said that it lacked adequate fact checking to the point that it contradicted reporting from the paper's own writers.  

The paper’s publisher AG Sulzberger initially defended the decision to publish the op-ed, saying the paper was committed to representing “views from across the spectrum”. 

Twitter users attacked Mr Cotton for his views
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Twitter users attacked Mr Cotton for his viewsCredit: Twitter
Tom Cotton is seen as a future contender for the White House in 2024
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Tom Cotton is seen as a future contender for the White House in 2024Credit: Getty Images - Getty
A Twitter message by Tom Cotton was retweeted by President Donald Trump
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A Twitter message by Tom Cotton was retweeted by President Donald TrumpCredit: Getty - Pool

But the Times later issued a statement acknowledging that the piece fell short of its editorial standards, causing the resignation of editorial page director James Bennet.  

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