Nobody has ever denied that unsafe Rust code exists, so I don't know why people keep acting like it's some gotcha that invalidates the value of Rust. The point

Nobody has ever denied that unsafe Rust code exists, so I don't know why people keep acting like it's some gotcha that invalidates the value of Rust. The point is that in Rust, it is clearly delimited where those unsafe operations are occurring, so you can focus on making sure those specific parts of your code are solid. In C, you have to be vigilant about your entire code base, not just a handful of blocks. Moreover, most Rust programs don't need to use unsafe at all, so those authors can rest easier.