Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts finally put the questions over her heritage to rest on Monday after she released the results of a DNA test to prove her Native American heritage–but for Late Show host Stephen Colbert, the Democrat may as well have been announcing a presidential run.
After playing a Warren campaign video showing her speaking with Carlos Bustamante, a professor of genetics at Stanford University who confirmed "with high confidence" that Warren had Native American ancestry, Colbert joked: "You heard them right…This test accurately reveals with a high confidence that Elizabeth Warren is running for president. That, we know, it came back positive."
The Late Show host began the segment by addressing speculation about the 2020 race, joking that one name had been "bandied about" for the Democrats: "Massachusetts senator and librarian you're embarrassed to ask about puberty books, Elizabeth Warren.
"Senator Warren's family has long told stories that they have some Native American heritage. Some people don't believe that. And his name is Donald Trump," Colbert said, before playing a montage of clips of President Donald Trump referring to Warren faceitously as "Pocahontas."
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Trump has long railed against Warren, taking specific aim at her family's claims of having Native American roots, with many Democrats calling his "Pocahontas" barbs racist.
"See? It may be racist, but it's affectionate," Colbert said. "Because Trump has great affection for racism."
Later on in the segment, Colbert struck back at the president for telling reporters that he didn't actually "care" about Warren's DNA results, despite his ongoing focus on the senator's heritage.
"You care! You're literally the only person who cares!" Colbert exclaimed. "In fact, you care so much, you once offered a million dollars to charity if Senator Warren proves she was part Native American."
Indeed, Trump did say during a speech at a rally last July that if he had been debating Warren, he would have offered her $1 million to a charity of the senator's choice if she agreed to take a DNA test "and it shows you're an Indian."
On Monday, Warren brought up the pledge, writing on Twitter: "By the way, @realDonaldTrump, remember saying on 7/5 that you'd give $1M to a charity of my choice if my DNA showed Native American ancestry? I remember—and here's the verdict. Please send the check to the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center."
Asked by reporters on Monday if he had any plans to donate the $1 million to charity, Trump denied ever making the pledge. "I didn't say that," he said.
Read more: Elizabeth Warren Will Take "Hard Look" at Running for President in 2020
Colbert took aim at Trump for challenging the senator to take a DNA test. "Well, Mr. President, she didn't say no. She said yes. But rumor has it, you don't know the difference. We don't have to wait for the president's DNA. He's 100 percent douche."
As for whether Trump will face Warren as an opponent in the 2020 presidential election race, the Democratic senator said she planned to "take a hard look at running for president" as soon as the November midterms are over.
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Chantal Da Silva is Chief Correspondent at Newsweek, with a focus on immigration and human rights. She is a Canadian-British journalist whose work ... Read more
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