Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Monday publicly released results of a DNA test that a top researcher said “strongly support[s]” the existence of a Native American ancestor.
Warren gave the results of the analysis, conducted by Stanford University professor and MacArthur genius Carlos Bustamante, to The Boston Globe.
{mosads}Bustamante said that Warren’s test results show the “vast majority” of her ancestry is European, but that “the results strongly support the existence of an unadmixed Native American ancestor,” likely 6–10 generations ago.
Warren’s campaign also released a video on her family history, published fact-checking information on her website about her heritage and published the results of Bustamante’s report.
“The facts suggest that you absolutely have Native American ancestry in your pedigree,” Bustamante tells the senator in the video.
The results of the test align with what Warren has said publicly about her heritage, though she has come under fire for identifying as Native American earlier in life. The “fact squad” findings published Monday on her website purports to set the record straight on those claims, saying that her heritage “played no role” in her hiring throughout her career.
The unprecedented move is seen as an effort to silence critics who claim Warren is fabricating Native American ancestry, including President Trump, who has repeatedly used the derogatory term “Pocahontas” to refer to the senator.
Warren’s decision to release DNA results comes as speculation continues to grow that she will decide to run for president in 2020.
The progressive senator is considered a favorite to take on Trump in 2020, and she said earlier this month that she will seriously consider it after the midterm elections. She is expected to easily win reelection to the Senate in November.
Trump has repeatedly brought up Warren’s heritage at rallies and when speaking about the next election cycle, saying in July that he would toss a DNA test kit to her onstage if the two were facing off in a presidential debate. The Warren debacle has drawn comparisons to Trump’s false accusations that former President Obama was not born in the U.S., which eventually prompted Obama to release his birth certificate.