Elizabeth Warren DNA Test Finds Distant Native American Ancestry

(Bloomberg) -- 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 “strong evidence” she had a Native American in her family tree dating six to 10 generations back, the Globe reported.

President Donald Trump has frequently ridiculed Warren for her claim of Native American heritage, calling her “Pocahontas” -- a nickname that she and some Native Americans have called a slur. At a political rally on July 5, Trump told supporters he’d offer $1 million to the charity of Warren’s choice if a DNA test proved she had Native American blood.

Warren responded to that on Monday by bringing up the July challenge and telling the president to "Please send the check to the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center."

“You better read it again,” Trump said of his public pledge as he departed the White House on Monday. “I hope she’s running for president,” he added, declaring she’d be easy to defeat and seeks to turn the country into Venezuela.

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 percent of those listed. Former Vice President Joe Biden led the poll with support from 33 percent 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.

Attacking his opponents’ heritage of course isn’t new for the president, who was among leaders of the “birther” movement that claimed former President Barack Obama was actually born in Kenya. Obama in 2011 responded by releasing his long-form birth certificate in an attempt to squelch the controversy and deflect the impact of “carnival barkers.” Trump later took credit for forcing Obama’s hand.

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.

--With assistance from Laura Curtis and Jennifer Epstein.

To contact the reporter on this story: Terrence Dopp in Washington at tdopp@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Derek Wallbank at dwallbank@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wasserman, Joshua Gallu

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