(Boston Globe)
Jess Bidgood February 06, 2019
WASHINGTON — Senator Elizabeth Warren is facing a new round of questions about her claims of Native American heritage, days after she apologized over the issue to representatives of the Cherokee Nation but chose not to immediately explain to the public what the apology was for.
She has sought to clarify her apology by telling reporters it was for “harm” caused to Native Americans, and answered in the affirmative when a reporter asked if it was for identifying herself as Native American during parts of her academic career.
The lingering questions about her claims — as well as a 1986 document published by The Washington Post on Tuesday in which she wrote that her race was “American Indian” — are an unwelcome distraction for her campaign days before she is expected to make her candidacy for president official. That announcement is widely expected this weekend in Massachusetts, and would launch a tour of six more states between New Hampshire and California.
Warren’s claims have long drawn taunts from Republicans who suggested she was lying about them — including President Trump, who has called her “Pocahontas.” In October, she released the results of a DNA test intended to prove she has an indigenous ancestor. It was meant to put the issue behind her, but she was ridiculed on the right because the ancestor would have been so distant, and it drew criticism on the left for using racial science to prove her point.
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