Last Updated Oct 19, 2018 10:00 PM EDT
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s Republican challenger Geoff Diehl slammed her in the first question in a contentious debate about her recent reveal that she did have Native American heritage. He said that while he didn’t care about the results, “it’s about integrity,” and he didn’t approve of her previous employer, Harvard University, listing her as a minority because it meant “taking a minority hire away from somebody else.”
Warren said that her DNA results did not show that she was a member of a tribe, and that she never benefited from her background. Warren has previously said she did not discuss her heritage while in job interviews.
“I’ve put out my family history, shoot. I even took a DNA test. It’s there,” Warren said. “And I’ve also tried to make clear throughout this. I am not a citizen of any tribal nation.”
Her claim that she has a Native American blood from a direct but distant relative has been the subject of controversy since she ran for Senate six years ago. President Trump often mocks her claim and refers to her derisively as “Pocahontas.” Asked about the results of her DNA analysis this week, he said if she were the Democratic presidential nominee, he would want to administer his own DNA test personally, which, he added, “will not be something I enjoy doing either.” Warren called the president’s comments about her “creepy.”
Diehl also slammed Warren for potentially running for president in 2020.
“You’ve been to Georgia, I think just last week,” Diehl said. “You were in Pennsylvania and Oklahoma two weekends ago when I was up in Lawrence looking at the gas line explosions and working with the National Guard to get hot plates out. You certainly want to make this a national race for yourself against Donald Trump. This is about Massachusetts.”
In September, Warren said she would take a “hard look” at running for president after the midterm elections.
Meanwhile, Warren consistently interrupted Diehl and accused him of being a Trump-style Republican.
Warren holds a substantial double-digit lead over Diehl, and CBS News rates this race “likely Democrat.”
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