Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is expected to officially launch her presidential campaign next week, but first, she has an apology to make.
Warren on Thursday apologized to the Cherokee Nation for taking a DNA test and publicly releasing the results showing "strong evidence" of Native American ancestry, The New York Times reports. She had released these results in October largely in response to President Trump, who has mockingly nicknamed her "Pocahontas" and repeatedly suggested she is dishonest about her ancestry. The test ultimately showed Warren had a Native American ancestor 6 to 10 generations ago. But the move was not taken well by many including the Cherokee Nation, with the tribe saying she was "undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage," per The Washington Post.
Julie Hubbard, a Cherokee Nation spokesperson, confirmed to the Times Friday that Warren apologized to Principal Chief Bill John Baker, saying the two had a "brief and private" conversation. "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," Hubbard said.
The Times had reported in December that although Warren was publicly expressing no regrets, she had "privately expressed concern that she may have damaged her relationships to Native American groups" with this episode, and some advisers recommended she issue a "strong statement of apology." She has now done so, albeit privately. With Trump having said just yesterday in a Times interview that Warren had been "hurt very badly with the Pocahontas trap," expect a presidential tweet about this shortly.