First lady Melania Trump looks on as President Donald Trump reacts to a question about Sen. Elizabeth Warren from a reporter during a briefing with state and local officials. Photo / AP
First lady Melania Trump looks on as President Donald Trump reacts to a question about Sen. Elizabeth Warren from a reporter during a briefing with state and local officials. Photo / AP
Senator Elizabeth Warren is suggesting President Donald Trump's comment about him personally administering a DNA test to her to prove her Native American heritage is "creepy."
She tweeted Monday that the president makes "creepy physical threats" about women who scare him, including her.
"He's trying to do what he always does to women who scare him: call us names, attack us personally, shrink us down to feel better about himself," the Massachusetts Democrat responded on Twitter after Trump made the comment during an appearance in Georgia.
We all know why @realDonaldTrump makes creepy physical threats about me, right? He’s scared. He’s trying to do what he always does to women who scare him: call us names, attack us personally, shrink us down to feel better about himself. It may soothe his ego – but it won’t work. https://t.co/2rfPSlvlQA
Warren, who is seen as a potential 2020 challenger to Trump, appears to have taken a page out of his political playbook, striking back almost instantly at the president who continues to ridicule her claim of Native American ancestry. Trump relishes a good fight, those close to him have said, and will hit back twice as hard when he's been attacked.
A sharp critic of Trump, Warren wasted little time going after him on Monday.
She opened the day by releasing DNA test results that provide some evidence of a Native American in her lineage, though the ancestor probably lived six to 10 generations ago, according to the analysis. Trump has ridiculed her as "Pocahontas" over the ancestry claim.
In July, the president offered to donate US$1 million to her favorite charity if a DNA test proved her Native American bloodline.
On Monday, he first denied ever making such a promise, then said later that "I'll only do it if I can test her personally."
"That will not be something I enjoy doing either," he added.
Warren tweeted that Trump is a "cowardly elitist" and she "won't sit quietly for Trump's racism" so she took the test.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren released results of a DNA test. Photo / AP
"I took this test and released the results for anyone who cares to see because I've got nothing to hide. What are YOU hiding, @realDonaldTrump?" she wrote. "Release your tax returns - or the Democratic-led House will do it for you soon enough. Tick-tock, Mr President."
Flashback. July 5. Trump on Elizabeth Warren: "I will give you a million dollars to your favorite charity, paid for by Trump, if you take the test and it shows you're an Indian." (via Fox) pic.twitter.com/rQ8cxHGg8s
Warren was referring to the November 6 election, when Democrats hope to regain control of the House, which would put them in position to examine and possibly publicly release Trump's returns.
Bottom line: My heritage played no role in my hiring – ever. The @BostonGlobe reviewed all the evidence. Their verdict? "At every step of her remarkable rise in the legal profession, the people responsible for hiring her saw her as a white woman." https://t.co/LTQ6d1sMwM
I won't sit quietly for @realDonaldTrump's racism, so I took a test. But DNA & family history has nothing to do with tribal affiliation or citizenship, which is determined only – only – by Tribal Nations. I respect the distinction, & don't list myself as Native in the Senate.
Trump has bucked decades of precedent by refusing to release his income tax returns during the 2016 presidential election, as well as after taking office.
