WATCH: Biden's ambassador to the UN says 'we cannot whitewash our own issues in our own country'

Speaking to Face the Nation on Sunday, UN Ambassador for the United States Linda Thomas-Greenfield expressed her interest in first tackling "human rights" issues in the US before addressing these needs globally.

Face the Nation's Margaret Brennan asked Thomas-Greenfield about controversial statements she made last week, wherein she said that the founding principles of the US were "woven with white supremacy."

"The Wall Street Journal editorial board called you 'The Ambassador of Blame America First,'" Brennan said, "saying it sounded like you were reciting Chinese propaganda about America and that you believe your job is 'to bring critical race theory to the world, with a special focus on criticizing' your own country."

Brennan sought to clarify the ambassador's remarks. "To be clear," she asked, "were you comparing bigotry in America to mass atrocities carried out against minorities around the world?"

"I was acknowledging what is a fact in the United States," Thomas-Greenfield said, "racism does exist in this country. And I think it was a powerful message: Imagine any other country doing that.

"Our country," she continued, "the uniqueness of our country, is that we can self-criticize, and we can move forward, and our values are clear. And the purpose of that speech was to lay out our values, but also acknowledge our imperfections, and acknowledge that we are moving forward.

"I don't think you will see a Uyghur, a Chinese Uyghur getting on the national stage acknowledging China's issues with human rights. I'm not comparing our situation, I'm acknowledging that we have come a long way, and I'm very proud of what we have been able to achieve.

"But I'm realistic about what we have to do moving forward. And I think if we are going to be a voice around the globe for raising issues of human rights we cannot whitewash our own issues in our own country."

The Uyghurs are an ethnic minority group in China who have undergone forced sterilization, surveillance, and forced labor at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.