Controversial author and pundit Pat Buchanan appeared on "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday to address his MSNBC departure and critics of his new book, "Suicide Of A Superpower."
Buchanan's book stirred significant controversy when it was released in October for including chapters with such titles as "The End of White America." Buchanan also chose to promote the book on a white nationalist radio show, which led civil rights groups to petition Buchanan's employer, MSNBC.
The network kept him off the air for months, stating that sections of the book were not appropriate for a national dialog. The network finally let him go last week. Following his stormy departure, Buchanan went on Fox News' "Hannity with Sean Hannity" and alleged that his dismissal was the result of a left-wing witchhunt.
CBS' Charlie Rose asked Buchanan what he would like people to understand about his book. "What I want you to understand, Charlie, what I want the folks to read that book and understand, is that Western civilization is in its Indian Summer. It is on, in my judgment, pretty much its last legs, and I'm not sure it will survive this century," Buchanan said. He added, "And what I'm warning about in our country is that the United States of America which is shifting to become a multi-cultural, multi-national, multi-ethic, multi-lingual country, there is nothing that's going to hold us together if we lose our common language, our common Christian, Judeo-Christian faith, our common moral consensus, which we are losing."
Rose asked, "So you're not saying the nation has to be white and Christian which some of your critics believe you are saying?"
"The critics should read the book instead of trying to blacklist and censor the book, Charlie. No," Buchanan fired back. Rose pressed Buchanan on his stance toward diversity. "But I thought what America meant was diversity. I thought what the Statue of Liberty meant was that we welcome everybody to our shores and that that is what has made us strong, because people have come from outside the United States to make giant contributions - in war and peace - to make us the strong country that we are."
Buchanan seemed to disagree with Rose. "What is happening now is that the elites in this country have taken the melting pot and thrown it out. They're saying to people, 'Come to America, keep your culture, keep your separate religion, keep your separate different beliefs.' America is becoming a nation of nations."
Rose challenged Buchanan's views again. He asked, "How are they saying that, Pat? How are they saying keep your beliefs but not at the same time accept the values and the Constitution of the country that you have come to?"
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