Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) apologized on Monday to an audience of Native-Americans in Sioux City, Iowa, for the way she handled past claims that she was of native ancestry.
She told a group of tribal leaders in the crucial early-voting state that she realized all of it had been an error on her part.
“Now, before I go any further in this, I want to say this: Like anyone who’s been honest with themselves, I know that I have made mistakes,” said Warren during the forum for presidential candidates.
“I am sorry for harm I have caused. I have listened and I have learned a lot.”
“And I am grateful for the many conversations that we’ve had together,” she added.
As Time.com explained, Warren garnered a standing ovation from the audience at the beginning of the two-day forum, which is drawing 10 other Democratic candidates as well for the White House.
The event promises to “test Warren’s ability to move beyond the flap over her discussions of her heritage, for which she had previously apologized privately to the Cherokee Nation,” Time also reported.
Warren was clearly attempting to address her history of controversy when it comes to Native-Americans and her claims of native ancestry.
Warren claimed for years to have Native-American ancestry, and early in 2019 she apologized to the Cherokee Nation for taking a DNA test that she said initially proved she had Native-American heritage.
Back in February, it emerged she had listed her race as “American Indian” in a Texas State Bar registration form in the 1980s, as Fox News and other outlets pointed out.
The controversy over her heritage has continued to dog her 2020 bid and led to her being nicknamed “Pocahontas” in right-wing circles — including from President Donald Trump.
It’s been well-documented that Warren tried to further her career — and was successful at doing so — by claiming minority status.
She listed herself as a minority law teacher for nearly a decade in the ’80s and ’90s.
Warren apologizes to Native Americans: "I have made mistakes" https://t.co/bUeMlQCQaM pic.twitter.com/QSxjQfr1j5
— The Hill (@thehill) August 19, 2019
A Harvard Crimson piece in 1996 referred to her as Native American, while a Fordham Law Review article in 1997 described her as a “woman of color.”
It wasn’t until December of 2018 that the Massachusetts senator finally admitted, “I’m not a person of color.”
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