Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) expressed regret for her claims of Native American heritage in a new interview, pointing to her family members as the source of her misleading account of her heritage.
“I grew up in Oklahoma, I learned about my family ... from my mom and my dad, my aunts and my uncles, and based on what I learned growing up and the fact that I love my family, decades ago, I sometimes identified as Native American,” the 2020 presidential candidate told CNN’s David Axelrod in a discussion that aired Saturday.
While Warren noted that the heritage claims “never had anything to do with any job that I ever got,” she emphasized that it was a mistake.
“Even so, I shouldn’t have done it,” she said. “I’m not a person of color. I am not a citizen of a tribe, but what I try to do is be a good friend to Native Americans.”
The senator cited her American Housing and Economic Mobility Act, which she introduced in 2018 to further affordable housing initiatives. Part of it includes a $2 billion investment in tribal lands for the creation or renovation of 200,000 homes.
Last month, Warren apologized to the Cherokee Nation after touting her October DNA test as evidence of her ancestry, even though her amount of Native American heritage was minuscule.
Though President Donald Trump has capitalized on the senator’s controversy with his racist “Pocahontas” insult, Warren appeared to brush off the smears.
“Donald Trump is going to do what Donald Trump is going to do,” she said. “Right now, I see this this as a fight about what kind of a country we’re going to be.”