MSNBC Analyst Defends Warren, Suggests Cherokee Nation is Racist

October 18th, 2018 4:49 PM

Desperate to defend Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren’s disastrous political stunt of taking a DNA test to try to prove Native American heritage, late Thursday morning, MSNBC Political Analyst and SiriusXM Director of Progressive Programming Zerlina Maxwell actually insinuated that the Cherokee Nation was racist, following their statement condemning Warren.

Noting that Warren “long claimed that she’s part Cherokee,” anchor Craig Melvin cited: “Cherokee Nation, Secretary of State Cherokee Nation, said in a statement, ‘DNA testing cannot prove that Warren is Cherokee or any other tribe.’” The host asked: “Do we think that the decision itself was a mistake? Do we think that the timing was a mistake?”

 

 

After Maxwell laughably argued that the move “put to bed a lot of the controversy” and somehow placed President Trump “on the defensive,” she blasted the Cherokee: “But in terms of the Cherokee Nation’s statement, I found that to be ridiculous.” Claiming that she was “also part Cherokee,” Maxwell accused the Native American tribe of racial discrimination:

So to be clear, I think that while the rollout of the DNA test and the decision to do a DNA test to be able to, quote, “prove” that she is part Cherokee, may not have been the best method. I also think that the Cherokee Nation’s response was problematic because it actually ignores the fact that DNA testing historically has been used to exclude black natives from tribal affiliation. And so, that history has been completely lost in this entire conversation, and that’s potentially very unfortunate.

A Democratic senator falsely claims to be Native American to advance her academic career, she does a DNA test showing that she may only be 1/1024th of that heritage, and one of her left-wing defenders attacks the Cherokee Nation as racist after they rightfully call out Warren for trying to misappropriate their culture. The contortions that the liberal media go through to defend Democrats are truly astounding.   

Here is a transcript of the brief October 18 exchange on MSNBC Live With Craig Melvin:

11:33 AM ET

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CRAIG MELVIN: Zerlina, I want to talk to you about something we were talking about in the commercial break, Elizabeth Warren, considered by many to be a possible frontrunner. Perhaps you heard, she released her DNA test results earlier this week, and revealed that she has some Native American roots. She’s long claimed that she’s part Cherokee. Cherokee Nation, Secretary of State Cherokee Nation, said in a statement, “DNA testing cannot prove that Warren is Cherokee or any other tribe.” There’s Chuck Hoskin Jr., Secretary of State.

Do we think that the decision itself was a mistake? Do we think that the timing was a mistake? What do we make of the political calculation of Elizabeth Warren releasing these DNA test results 20 days away from the midterms?

ZERLINA MAXWELL [SIRIUSXM, DIRECTOR OF PROGRESSIVE PROGRAMMING]: I think it’s a complicated answer. I think that it wasn’t fully a smooth rollout of the DNA testing and the video, and it put to bed a lot of the controversy. Obviously it was because President Trump had said he was going to give a million dollars to a charity if she could prove, using a DNA test, that she was part native. She did that. He’s not giving the money to the charity. He also denied saying that. So it sort of puts him on the defensive in some ways.

But in terms of the Cherokee Nation’s statement, I found that to be ridiculous. I am also part Cherokee, but I have not taken a DNA test. I’m not trying to join a tribe or claim membership in a tribe, and neither did Elizabeth Warren.

So to be clear, I think that while the rollout of the DNA test and the decision to do a DNA test to be able to, quote, “prove” that she is part Cherokee, may not have been the best method. I also think that the Cherokee Nation’s response was problematic because it actually ignores the fact that DNA testing historically has been used to exclude black natives from tribal affiliation. And so, that history has been completely lost in this entire conversation, and that’s potentially very unfortunate.

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