Donald Trump Is Already Attacking Elizabeth Warren's Campaign Over This Controversy
Even though 2019 just started, in campaign years that means it's time to already start focusing on the 2020 election. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusettes) announced on New Year's Eve that she's throwing her hat into the ring and looking into running in the 2020 presidential race. With some competition creeping up, the current president doesn't seem thrilled. Donald Trump's meme About Elizabeth Warren pokes fun at her somewhat controversial Native American heritage, so I guess this is starting.
Trump has often made fun of Warren for her claim of Native American ancestry. The president has been known to refer to Warren by the derogatory nickname "Pocahontas" in several tweets dating back to 2014, and even during a November 2017 event honoring Native American veterans at the White House, according to NBC News.
In order to quiet Trump's attacks on her heritage, back in October 2018 Warren released the results of a DNA test showing that she was somewhere between 1/64 and 1/1,024 Native American — meaning she had a Native American ancestor somewhere between six and 10 generations ago, not enough for her to be considered Native American by most standards. But the counter to Trump probably didn't go as well as she had hoped. In fact, Warren was criticized on all fronts, with Native Americans including the Cherokee Nation angered by what they said was a misrepresentation of Native American identity.
Following news that Warren plans to run for president, on Jan. 3 Trump tweeted out a meme that looked like a Warren 2020 campaign poster, but instead of of 2020 it said "1/2020th" — touching on her controversial DNA results.
The White House and representatives of Warren did not immediately respond to Elite Daily's request for comment.
Following the public release of her DNA results, Warren was called out by the Cherokee Nation. Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. said in a statement shared with USA Today that such DNA tests are "useless to determine tribal citizenship," because they don't differentiate whether the subjects are from North or South America, much less tribal identity. Representatives of Warren did not immediately respond to Elite Daily's request for comment. According to the genetic analysis report released by Warren, her DNA was compared to samples from Mexico, Peru and Colombia. Hoskin Jr. said that the tests "[dishonor] legitimate tribal governments," according to USA Today. He said in a Oct. 16 statement,
It makes a mockery out of DNA tests and its legitimate uses while also dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens, whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven. Senator Warren is undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage.
Trump took the opportunity to call Warren out on the results, once again calling her "Pocahontas (the bad version) and saying that "even [the Cherokee Nation] doesn't want her."
Interestingly enough, Warren only released the DNA results as part of a "bet" she made with Trump. In a July 2018 rally in Montana, Trump egged Warren on and said, “I will give you a million dollars to your favorite charity, paid for by Trump, if you take the test and it shows you’re an Indian,” he said. When Warren released the results in October she came asking for the check. In an Oct. 15 tweet, Warren posted The Boston Globe article confirming her DNA results and asked the president to "Please send the check to the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center." At first, Trump denied ever making a bet, according to Reuters. However, later while in Georgia, Trump told reporters that he'll fish out the million if he could "test her personally." The White House did not respond to Elite Daily's request for comment at the time.
It looks like Trump is a little sour over Warren's decision to run and decided the best way to handle it is to reignite the rivalry. Maybe leave everyone else out of this feud, though. This is between the two of you.
