Warren Deletes Infamous DNA Test Tweet One Year After Reveal
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) deleted from her Twitter and YouTube accounts a now-infamous video announcing the results of her DNA test on Wednesday, one year after its initial unveiling was met with heavy bipartisan criticism.
A story titled “Happy Anniversary to Elizabeth Warren’s DNA Test!” by Jim Treacher, a columnist at PJ Media, revisited the reveal by Warren on Tuesday, a year to the day after the initial video was posted. Treacher then later went to look for the tweet, but found it deleted.
“My family (including Fox News-watchers) sat together and talked about what they think of @realDonaldTrump’s attacks on our heritage. And yes, a famous geneticist analyzed my DNA and concluded that it contains Native American ancestry,” the text of the tweet read.
The test, which was analyzed by Stanford professor Carlos D. Bustamante, found Warren to be between 1/64th and 1/1024th Native American and prompted further criticism from President Trump, who began calling Warren “Pocahontas” during the 2016 campaign.
Following Warren’s announcement, Trump mocked the Massachusetts Senator after the Cherokee Nation criticized Warren’s use of the test as “making a mockery out of DNA tests and its legitimate uses while also dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens, whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven.”
“Now Cherokee Nation denies her, “DNA test is useless.” Even they don’t want her. Phony!” Trump tweeted.
Though Warren had initially said in March 2018 that she would not undergo a DNA test, she responded to criticism in the aftermath by saying “I believe one way that we try to rebuild confidence [in government] is through transparency.”
In February, Warren apologized to Bill John Baker, the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, for her public advertising of the test. “The chief and secretary of state appreciate that she has reaffirmed that she is not a Cherokee Nation citizen or a citizen of any tribal nation,” Cherokee Nation spokeswoman Julie Hubbard said in the aftermath.
