Associated Press/Carolyn Kaster
President Donald Trump gives the thumbs-up as he arrives on Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 8, 2019, as he returns from his annual physical exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
- President Donald Trump appeared to joke about the Trail of Tears in a tweet about Elizabeth Warren on Saturday.
- "See you on the campaign TRAIL, Liz!" he tweeted.
- The Trail of Tears genocide forcibly displaced tens of thousands of Native Americans and caused the death of roughly 4,000 in the mid-1800s.
- Trump has previously used the death of Native Americans to mock Warren, tweeting about the Wounded Knee Massacre in January.
President Donald Trump appeared to joke on Saturday about the Trail of Tears genocide - which forcibly displaced and led to the death of thousands of Native Americans - in a tweet mocking Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
"Today Elizabeth Warren, sometimes referred to by me as Pocahontas, joined the race for President," he tweeted. "Will she run as our first Native American presidential candidate, or has she decided that after 32 years, this is not playing so well anymore? See you on the campaign TRAIL, Liz!"
The tweet came shortly after Warren formally declared that she's running for president in 2020.
Read more: Elizabeth Warren has officially announced that she's running for president
Trump has often seized on Warren's claims of Native American ancestry, and frequently refers to her as "Pocahontas." In recent weeks, he also mocked her by referring to the Wounded Knee Massacre, which killed hundreds of Lakota tribe members in 1890.
"If Elizabeth Warren, often referred to by me as Pocahontas, did this commercial from Bighorn or Wounded Knee instead of her kitchen, with her husband dressed in full Indian garb, it would have been a smash!" he tweeted on January 13.
Warren has battled ongoing controversy about her identity, including a recent episode where she released a DNA test revealing she had a distant Native American ancestor. The Washington Post also recently uncovered a 1986 bar registration card showing that she identified herself as "American Indian" on the line designating her race.
Warren has apologized for claiming Native American ancestry, and sought to clarify that she is not a tribal citizen.
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- Elizabeth Warren called herself 'American Indian' on her 1986 bar registration card, heightening scrutiny of her race claims
- Elizabeth Warren apologizes to the Cherokee Nation for her controversial DNA test after months of criticism
- A majority of Americans approve of Elizabeth Warren's new tax on the wealthy, according to a new poll