President Trump referred to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) as “Pocahontas” on Twitter Friday morning, just three days after declaring November National Native American Heritage Month.
“Pocahontas just stated that the Democrats, lead by the legendary Crooked Hillary Clinton, rigged the Primaries! Lets go FBI & Justice Dept,” Trump tweeted Friday morning.
Pocahontas just stated that the Democrats, lead by the legendary Crooked Hillary Clinton, rigged the Primaries! Lets go FBI & Justice Dept.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017
The tweet was in reference to an essay published in Politico Thursday by former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile about a fundraising deal the Hillary Clinton campaign made with the DNC, which is supposed to remain neutral during primaries, before she was the official nominee. Asked on CNN Thursday if she believes the DNC was rigged in Clinton’s favor, Warren said yes.
Warren has said she has Native American heritage, though Trump — who claimed for years that former President Barack Obama was lying about his own heritage — claims Warren is lying about her Native American background.
The irony of the tweet is, in part, thanks for the fact that just three days ago, Trump declared November National Native American Heritage Month.
“During National Native American Month, we honor and celebrate the first Americans and recognize their contributions and sacrifices,” Trump said in the proclamation. “The United States is stronger when Indian Country is healthy and prosperous.”
But Trump was singing a different tune Friday, reverting back to the nickname that Native Americans have spoken out against in the past.
“Trump’s inability to discern the difference between Sen. Warren and Pocahontas is no accident,” Mary Kathryn Nagle, a playwright, attorney and citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma told MSNBC in May. “His attack on her native identity reflects a dominant American culture that has made every effort to diminish native women to nothing other than a fantastical, oversexualized, Disney character.”
During the campaign, Trump said Warren “made up her heritage, which I think is racist. I think she’s a racist, actually because what she did was very racist,” and in an interview with Bill O’Reilly last year, Trump said he regrets calling her Pocahontas — but only because he thinks it’s “a tremendous insult to Pocahontas.”
“So, to Pocahontas, I would like to apologize to you,” Trump said.
Warren responded to the attack on Twitter Friday, tweeting, “You might think your tweets are cute, @realDonaldTrump, but they won’t stop Mueller’s investigation or keep your people out of jail.”
You might think your tweets are cute, @realDonaldTrump, but they won’t stop Mueller's investigation or keep your people out of jail.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) November 3, 2017
Trump’s tweet about Warren Friday was part of a 10-tweet storm about a rogue Twitter staffer who briefly shut down his account Thursday night, Brazile’s essay about DNC collusion with the Clinton campaign, and ISIS.