Senator Elizabeth Warren released results of a DNA test that suggests she does have a distant Native American ancestor in her lineage, appearing to strike back at President Donald Trump and others who have accused her of falsely making the claim.
Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, released the results to the Boston Globe of a test analyzed by Stanford University professors and DNA expert Carlos Bustamante and later posted a video and documents online explaining the results. The test found evidence that Warren had a Native American in her family tree, though the link is distant. She’s between 1/64th and 1/1,024th Native American, according to the DNA report.
https://twitter.com/elizabethforma/status/1051783184390664192
The lawmaker is considered among a handful of front-running Democrats who could challenge Trump in 2020. A CNN poll released Sunday found her running fourth in the list of potential Democrats with support from 8% of those listed. Former Vice President Joe Biden lead the poll with support from 33% of respondents.
“I’m not enrolled in a tribe and only tribes determine tribal citizenship. I understand and respect that distinction but my family history is my family history,” Warren said in a video explaining the results posted to her Twitter account. “Trump can say whatever he wants about me, but mocking Native Americans or any group in order to try and get at me? That’s not what America stands for.”
Warren said this summer that she’s not yet decided to run for president and is focused on winning re-election to the Senate in the November midterm elections.
Trump, who was among those “birthers” who claimed former President Barack Obama was actually born in Kenya, has frequently referred to Warren as “Pocahontas,” a reference to the American Indian woman who helped colonial settlers, and has said he has more Indian blood than she does.
At a recent political rally, Trump told supporters he’d offer $1 million to the charity of her choice if a DNA test proved she had Native American blood.
White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, spoke to reporters in Washington Monday morning after the release of Warren’s DNA test results. “Everybody likes to pick their junk science and sound science” depending on what suits their agenda, she said. She declined to answer a question on Trump’s previous call for Warren to take the test.
This story has been updated to reflect a correction issued by the Boston Globe, which initially miscalculated Warren’s Native American heritage as attributable to a 6th to 10th generation relative.
