Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she took a DNA test to prove her Native American heritage in an effort to restore people’s trust in government.
When asked by a moderator in her Sunday debate why she changed her mind and took the DNA test, Warren, D-Mass., said trust in government has hit an “all-time low,” and said she wanted anyone to be able to see the results. “I believe one way that we try to rebuild confidence is through transparency,” she said.
Warren released the results of a DNA test last week, which revealed that she could have a Native American relative somewhere between six and 10 generations back, making her between 1/64th and 1/1024th Native American.
Trump goaded Warren into taking a test by questioning her heritage, calling her “Pocahontas” and pledging to donate $1 million to a charity of her choosing if she did have aboriginal blood.
Republican state Rep. Geoff Diehl is running for Warren’s Senate seat this year, and he charged in Sunday’s debate that Warren has unfairly tried to cast herself as a Native American to further her career.
“[The issue] is not about Sen. Warren’s ancestry, it’s about integrity in my mind,” Diehl said, according to the Associated Press. “And I don’t care whether you think you benefited or not from that claim, it’s the fact that you tried to benefit from that claim that I think bothers a lot of people and it’s something you haven’t been able to put to rest since the 2012 campaign.”
Diehl said he believes Warren doesn’t care to be a Massachusetts senator anymore, and is only looking ahead to run for president.
“I don’t care what percentage she claims to be Native American, I just care that I’m 100 percent for Massachusetts and will be working for the people of this state,” Diehl said, saying it was “obvious” she doesn’t want to be senator. “[Warren’s] been campaigning in states that are more important to her than Massachusetts.”
