2020 White House hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) campaign website no longer features a DNA test result revealing her fractional Native-American heritage.
Also removed from the website is a video of Warren receiving the test results, which revealed she was only between 1/64 and 1/1024 Native American. The Daily Caller reported the clip was scrubbed as of Sunday. The results of that analysis, published on October 16th of last year, show Warren may have a common ancestor six to ten generations ago with residents of Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.
She had previously said her Native American roots were part of “family lore” and stands accused of claiming such heritage to gain employment advantage in Academia, including a plum teaching position at Harvard Law School. In February, the Washington Post reported that Warren filled out a form for the State Bar of Texas in 1986 claiming she was of American-Indian ancestry.
In a brief statement with the Post, Warren apologized for claiming Native American heritage, saying: “I can’t go back, but I am sorry for furthering confusion on tribal sovereignty and tribal citizenship and harm that resulted.”
The Massachusetts senator’s apology was not her first regarding past claims of Native American roots. Earlier this year, she expressed regret to the Cherokee Nation for her actions.
The Cherokee Nation had complained that tribal nations, not DNA results, determine membership and that the lawmaker had hurt “tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage.”
“A DNA test is useless to determine tribal citizenship,” Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. said at the time. “Current DNA tests do not even distinguish whether a person’s ancestors were indigenous to North or South America.”
Appearing Monday at the Native American Presidential Forum in Sioux City, Iowa, Warren once again conceded she had made “mistakes” in the past regarding her heritage claims.
“Like anyone who’s been honest with themselves, I know that I have made mistakes,” Warren told attendees. “I am sorry for the harm I have caused.”
“I have listened and I have learned a lot, and I am grateful for the many conversations we have had together,” she added.
However, at no point during the event did Warren offer up an explanation for why she claimed Native American heritage — something Republicans say is unacceptable.
“Before Elizabeth Warren can be taken seriously on Native American issues, she must first admit the obvious: she lied about being one to gain minority status at a time when Ivy League law schools were desperate to add diversity to their ranks,” said Michael Reed, the Republican National Committee’s deputy chief of staff for communications.
“Her campaign’s decision to stop their pathetic excuses on this issue should tell you all you need to know about her disastrous handling of it,” Reed added.
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