Trump referred to Warren as Pocahontas, asking her if she was going to run as the first Native American presidential candidate.
Today Elizabeth Warren, sometimes referred to by me as Pocahontas, joined the race for President. Will she run as our first Native American presidential candidate, or has she decided that after 32 years, this is not playing so well anymore? See you on the campaign TRAIL, Liz!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 9 февраля 2019 г.
The tweet was a reference to Warren’s claims that she is of Native American descent, which date back to her 2012 victory over then-Republican Sen. Scott Brown. In October 2018, she underwent a DNA test to prove her ethnicity, yet this enraged some tribal leaders of the Cherokee Nation. The senator apologised and explained that her statements had been based on her own understanding of her family history.
"I am not a person of colour; I am not a citizen of a tribe," she said. "Tribal citizenship is very different than ancestry. Tribes and only tribes determine tribal citizenship."
The president also wrote “see you on the campaign TRAIL” at the end of his tweet, specifically capitalising the last word. While Trump is known for his habit of capitalising words in his tweets to emphasise their importance, the word “trail” was interpreted by the media as a reference to the "Trail of Tears", the name given to the forced relocation of Native American tribes that led to the death of as many as 8,000 Cherokee between 1830 and 1850, The Hill reported.
READ MORE: Elizabeth Warren Makes Official Bid for 2020 Presidential Run
Just before Warren’s announcement, Trump’s 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale issued a statement saying that Warren “has already been exposed as a fraud by the Native Americans she impersonated and disrespected to advance her professional career, and the people of Massachusetts she deceived to get elected.”
“The American people will reject her dishonest campaign and socialist ideas like the Green New Deal, that will raise taxes, kill jobs and crush America's middle-class. Only under President Trump's leadership will America continue to grow safer, secure and more prosperous,” the statement reads.
