After a day of trying to keep it under wraps, even the liberal networks showered mockery on Elizabeth Warren’s disastrous attempt to prove Native American heritage. ABC, CBS and NBC on Tuesday questioned her strategy, featured outrage from actual Native Americans, and openly laughed at her unofficial presidential rollout.
Good Morning America and CBS This Morning quoted from a Cherokee Nation statement slamming the Democrat: “Senator Warren is undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage.” GMA’s Mary Bruce explained that “current DNA tests do not even distinguish whether a person’s ancestors were indigenous to North or South America.”
NBC’s Today didn’t cover this part of the growing controversy from 7am until 9am. But Megyn Kelly Today did. Kelly explained the outrage over Warren’s past claims.
This is the reason it’s controversial. When she was at Harvard Law School and the University of Pennsylvania, she represented herself as Native American. She contributed to a Native American cookbook called Pow Wow Chow, calling herself Cherokee.
Perhaps representative of how Warren’s new claim of heritage is being received in the country, the studio audience erupted in laughter.
None of the other networks made the key point about Warren and employment. On CBS This Morning, reporter Ed O’Keefe only vaguely alluded to the then-professor using ancestry for professional gain: “But she first publicly identified as such in the late 1980s.”
However, all three networks derided the Democrat's political wisdom. CBS This Morning, co-host Bianna Golodrygra chided, “A lot of people questioning whether this revelation really did win her any points.” On NBC’s Today, Jacob Soboroff related the outrage from Democrats:
You have people banging their heads when you hear Elizabeth Warren talking about her DNA test just 22 days before the election, because they feel like in the local districts this [issues] is what people want to be talking about.
You know it's bad when even ABC, CBS and NBC unload on a powerful liberal senator
Partial transcripts are below. Click “expand” to read more:
CBS This Morning
10/16/18
7:12
JOHN DICKERSON: Massachusetts Senator and possible presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren released results of a DNA test she says proves she has some Native American heritage. President Trump has mocked Warren's ancestry claims and derisively referred to her as Pocahontas. Ed O’Keefe is in Washington with this one. Ed, good morning.
...
ED O’KEEFE: Warren criticized the President for that response in a 28 Tweet storm of her own, calling the President a bully who scares easily. And we should note that the Cherokee Nation criticized Warren's announcement, saying her use of a DNA test is inappropriate and, quote, “undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage.” Bianna?
BIANNA GOLODRYGA: Yeah. A lot of people questioning whether this revelation really did win her any points, Ed. Thank you.
Good Morning America
10/16/18
7:08MARY BRUCE: Well, Elizabeth Warren is clearly eager to put this issue behind her as she toys with the run for the White House. But this morning she is getting fresh criticism from President trump and even push back from the Cherokee Nation. It's a racial taunt that President Trump relishes.
DONALD TRUMP: Pocahontas.
...
BRUCE: But this morning, push back from another corner. Cherokee Nation called the President's attacks derisive but is also criticizing Warren, saying “she is undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage,” adding a DNA test is useless. “Current DNA tests do not even distinguish whether a person’s ancestors were indigenous to North or South America.” Now, Warren says she is not claiming tribal identity here, just family history, but the fact that she is so publicly taking on this issue now is the clearest sign yet that she's running for president. But Democrats we've talked with say they wish she could have waited a couple of weeks until after the midterms to make such a public push.
Today
10/16/18
7:45JACOB SOBOROFF: You have people banging their heads when you hear Elizabeth Warren talking about her DNA test just 22 days before the election because they feel like in the local districts this is what people want to be talking about.
Megyn Kelly Today
10/16/18
9:01MEGYN KELLY: We start with the big reveal from senator Elizabeth Warren. Have you been following this at all? Okay. So, she’s been a popular target for President Trump. He has mocked her for her claims that she is native American, which she has represented professionally in the past. She tried to face the criticism head-on this week. She took a DNA test of sorts and then released a slick video outlining her family history. It is safe to say, it did not go well.
...
PETER ALEXANDER: The genetic analys is setting her American Indian ancestry at a small fraction, possibly as a little as 1/1024, fueling more partisan criticism.
RUSH LIMBAUGH: Elizabeth Warren is whiter than your average white person.
ALEXANDER: — including the Drudge report putting Warren in a headdress. A Cherokee Nation leader accusing Warren of undermining tribal interests. But in the video, Warren says she respects the difference between family history and tribal affiliation.
WARREN: I'm not enrolled in a tribe and only tribes determine citizenship.
KELLY: [Laughs] Oh boy!
...
KELLY: This is the reason it’s controversial. When she was at Harvard Law School and the University of Pennsylvania, she represented herself as Native American. She contributed to a Native American cookbook called Pow Wow Chow, calling herself Cherokee.
