This morning, Elizabeth Warren joined Hillary Clinton for what looked like a VP audition. During their appearance, Clinton commended Warren for her fine-tuned ability to “get under Donald Trump’s skin,” and that comment had the obvious effect. Warren has continually called Trump out where it hurts the most — his business prowess. She thinks he’s a fraud and a loophole junkie, and she’s also called him a racist on more than one occasion. That sort of assessment is to be expected when Trump refers to Warren as Pocahontas, which is a jab at (and a question about) her Indian heritage.
Trump is convinced that Warren has no Indian blood, and he never reacts well to criticism. So, Trump recharged his verbal weaponry after witnessing an alliance that could potentially unite the Democratic party. Now, no one knows for sure whether Clinton will pick Warren or if this is simply a strategic move. Heck, Warren’s surrogate behavior could boost her Senate profile even if she doesn’t end up as the VP candidate. Trump spoke with MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson outside Trump Tower to say he can’t wait to compete against Clinton and Warren. He continued his Pocahontas talk and also branded Warren as the real racist in this argument:
“I hope she’s selected as the vice-presidential running mate. I will speak very openly about her. She is one of the least productive senators in the United States Senate. We call her Pocahontas for a reason.
“She said she’s 5 percent Native American. She was unable to prove it. She used the fact that she was Native American to advance her career. Elizabeth Warren is a total fraud. I know it. Other people who work with her know it … She made up her heritage, which I think is racist. I think she’s a racist, actually, because what she did was very racist.”
As if on cue, former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown took Trump’s side over Warren. Scott spoke on a Trump conference call about his successor, who he says is “not Native American, she’s not 1/32nd, she has no Native American background.” Scott then suggested that Warren take a DNA test to prove her heritage claims. Is Brown a little sore at losing to Warren in 2012? He’s free to question whether Warren’s telling the truth, but doing so on a Trump press call takes the accusations to another level.
Election season is really getting warmed up. Here’s that MSNBC clip featuring Hallie Jackson after her chat with Trump.