During a town hall in New Hampshire on Friday, Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren was pressed about the controversy surrounding her past claims of Native American heritage. The results of a DNA test previously revealed Warren had between 1/64th and 1/1,024 Native American ancestry, which is from 0.1 percent to 1.56 percent, Breitbart reports.
Warren told the individual at the event that she learned about her Native American ancestry from her parents.
“My family is very important to me, and that’s why many years ago, I sometimes identified as Native American,” Warren said, pointing to a Boston Globe investigation that concluded she did not use her ancestry to get ahead in her law career.
“I shouldn’t have done it. I am not a person of color, I am not a citizen of a tribe. And I have apologized for the confusion I have caused on tribal citizenship, tribal sovereignty, and for any harm I have caused.”
Previously, Warren admitted to the Globe that she should have been “more mindful” of the difference between heritage and tribal citizenship.
“Only the tribes can determine tribal citizenship and I respect their right. That’s why now I don’t list myself here in the Senate as Native American,” she said.
Per Breitbart, Warren previously apologized for her claims of Native American ancestry at the Frank LaMere Native American Presidential Forum in Sioux City, Iowa, in August.
“I am sorry for the harm I have caused,” she said.
Warren’s claims of Native American heritage have made her a frequent target of Donald Trump, who has called her “Pocahontas” on many occasions. Following the results of the DNA test, he attacked Warren as a “phony.”
Charlamagne Tha God on if he believes Elizabeth Warren’s Native American story: “No…she has so much policies and plans and everything else is so detailed…but when you ask her about that she’s just like, ‘that’s what I learned from my family’…I definitely don’t buy her answer” pic.twitter.com/tqd9n44lV4
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) June 14, 2019
The extent of Warren’s Native American heritage is not the first time she has been accused of being untruthful. She was also called out for claiming that her children went to public schools. According to The New York Post’s Corey DeAngelis, Warren’s son, Alex, attended the private Kirby Hall School in Texas, which reportedly costs $17,875 per year. Conversely, Warren’s daughter, Amelia, went to the public Anderson High School.
The Massachusetts Senator’s recent comments come as she experiences a dip in the polls . Notably, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll put her at 13 percent support, which is her lowest level of support in months. Political commentators suggest that Warren’s dip lies in her handling of Medicare for All — some say for embracing it, while others say for equivocating on it.
