Scott Brown suggests Elizabeth Warren take a DNA test while Donald Trump rips her as a fraud and racist

Between them, Donald Trump and former Sen. Scott Brown (R–Mass.) called Warren a "fraud" and a "racist" with "character flaws."

(Image credit: Astrid Riecken/Getty Images)

published 27 June 2016

Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass.) first day on the campaign trail with Hillary Clinton fueled some feisty attacks. Donald Trump, for one, was quick to fire back at Warren's digs towards him with some accusations of his own. "She said she's 5 percent Native American. She was unable to prove it. She used the fact that she was Native American to advance her career," Trump said. "Elizabeth Warren is a total fraud. I know it." Trump also noted that Warren is "a racist," explaining "she made up her heritage, which I think is racist."

Trump wasn't the only Republican to latch onto Warren's Native American heritage. Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), who lost his Senate seat to Warren in 2012, was similarly skeptical, and said Warren ought to take a DNA test and release her records from Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, where she taught.

However, Brown seemed to have already made up his mind about what such tests would reveal. "Secretary Clinton is considering making someone the vice president who has very serious character flaws when it comes to honesty and credibility in dealing with her heritage," Brown said. "And what did that do? That took away somebody who truly was a Native American and gave that opportunity to somebody who's not, and that's just not right. It's a reverse form of racism, quite frankly."