Immediately after Elizabeth Warren announced she’s running for President in 2020, the Trump campaign issued a quick statement, calling her a “fraud”.
It’s hard to disagree with them after Warren’s DNA test last year famously proved she was only 1/64 (best case) or 1/1,024 (worst case) Native American.
Warren even issued a formal apology (several months) after those results were made public.
So when the Trump campaign uses the word “fraud”, it seems to be a fair use of the term!
Here’s more on the story, from The Hill:
President Trump’s campaign wasted no time going after Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Saturday shortly before she was expected to formally announce her candidacy for the White House in 2020.
“Elizabeth Warren has already been exposed as a fraud by the Native Americans she impersonated and disrespected to advance her professional career, and the people of Massachusetts she deceived to get elected,” Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement.
“The American people will reject her dishonest campaign and socialist ideas like the Green New Deal, that will raise taxes, kill jobs and crush America’s middle class. Only under President Trump’s leadership will America continue to grow safer, secure and more prosperous,” he added.
The statement came just before Warren was slated to give a speech in which she was widely expected to announce her bid for the presidency.
It marked the first time that the Trump campaign has issued such a statement blasting an announcement from a Democratic presidential hopeful, after several candidates jumped into the race earlier this year.
Warren, an outspoken critic of Trump and his administration, has maintained a fraught relationship with the president throughout his tenure.
Trump early on latched onto Warren’s past claims of Native American ancestry, often questioning those claims and disparagingly referring to her as “Pocahontas.”
Warren’s claims of Native American heritage has continued to dog her as she has explored a presidential bid.
Warren sought to get ahead of criticism stemming from those claims by releasing the results of a DNA test in October. The results “strong evidence” she had Native American ancestry, likely from an ancestor from between six and 10 generations ago.
Still, the senator was rebuffed by many Native Americans for taking the test, prompting her to apologize. Native Americans scrutinized Warren’s decision, expressing concerns about using science and DNA tests to gauge racial and ethnic identity.
“This is our family’s story, and it’s all consistent from that point in time. But as I said, it’s important to note I’m not a tribal citizen, and I should have been more mindful of the distinction,” Warren told reporters on Wednesday.
The Trump campaign wasn’t the only group to weight in.
Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who just so happens to be the only enrolled member of Congress in the Cherokee Nation, also made a statement, saying Warren “got caught in a lie” and “is not qualified to even run”.
Cherokee Nation is not amused with this woman.
Here's more on the comments from Mullin, from Fox News:
An Oklahoma Republican and enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation said Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been "caught in a lie" and she should abandon her plans to enter the 2020 presidential race.
Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), the only Cherokee Nation citizen in Congress, joined Ainsley Earhardt on "Fox & Friends" Friday morning to react to the latest revelation in Warren's (D-Mass.) Native American heritage controversy.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Warren indicated that her race was "American Indian" in a handwritten registration form filed in 1986 with the Texas State Bar, which is the first known instance of Warren claiming Native American ancestry in an official document or in her own handwriting.
Warren has been accused by Republicans, including President Trump, of claiming Native American heritage to bolster her academic career.
In October, Warren released a DNA test that revealed "strong evidence" of a Native American ancestor dating back six to ten generations, which would make her between 1/64th and 1/1,024th Native American.
Last week, Warren apologized to the Cherokee Nation for taking the DNA test in an attempt to prove her ancestry claims, and on Tuesday, she again more broadly apologized for identifying as Native American for decades, according to The Post.
Mullin said that Warren "absolutely" used her heritage claims to get ahead professionally, and he believes she should be disbarred in Texas.
"She got caught in a lie," Mullin said. "It's obvious. It's in black and white. She wrote it in her own handwriting that she was 'American Indian.'"
"Now that she's caught, what she just needs to do is step back and say, 'Look, I'm not qualified even run for president,'" he said.
Twitter had a field day roasting Warren:
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