By Dan Good
New York Daily News
Sen. Elizabeth Warren — ridiculed by President Donald Trump with the nickname “Pocahontas” — released a DNA test Monday showing “strong evidence” of Native American heritage dating back six to 10 generations.
The results of the test, first published by the Boston Globe, come after years of speculation that Warren had falsified her heritage decades ago by calling herself a minority in order to advance her career.
The Massachusetts Democrat, 69, has claimed that she was told growing up that she was part Cherokee.
Trump seized on the controversy throughout his campaign and presidency, calling Warren a liar and a fraud, tweeting about her dozens of times since May 2016 and trashing her at numerous rallies.
During a July speech, Trump said he would offer Warren $1 million to take a DNA test if he had to face her in a debate.
He also brought up Warren’s ancestry during a White House event honoring World War II Navajo code talkers.
“You were here long before any of us were here,” he told the honorees. “Although we have a representative in Congress who, they say, was here a long time ago. They call her ‘Pocahontas.’”
The president responded with indifference when asked Monday about Warren’s DNA test results.
“Who cares?” he told reporters on the White House lawn.
Warren’s DNA test was conducted by Carlos Bustamante, an expert in DNA analysis and a Stanford University professor.
Bustamante identified five of Warren’s genetic segments as Native American at “high confidence,” he wrote in his report.
The largest segment involving Native American ancestry was located on chromosome 10 and is “clearly distinct” from Warren’s European ancestry.
The segment size suggests “an unadmixed Native American ancestor in the pedigree at approximately 8 generations before the sample, although the actual number could be somewhat lower or higher,” Bustamante wrote.
Bustamante was not aware of the donor’s identity when he was studying the DNA.
Warren — who’s gearing up for a potential run in 2020 to unseat Trump — on Monday unveiled a website and video devoted to her heritage.
“Now, the president likes to call my mother a liar. What do the facts say?” Warren asks Bustamante in the video.
“The facts suggest that you absolutely have a Native American ancestor in your pedigree,” Bustamante responds in a phone call.
Trump has previously seized on Barack Obama’s heritage, calling on his predecessor to release his birth certificate because he didn’t believe Obama was born in America.
Trump continued to support his “birther” claims years after Obama released his Hawaii birth certificate in 2011.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday on whether Trump would be retiring his nickname for Warren.
The Republican National Committee criticized Warren’s announcement, writing in a statement, “Having as little as 1/512th Native American ties does not give you the right to claim minority status.”
