Former Obama campaign strategist Jim Messina questioned the timing of Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren releasing a DNA test Monday.
Warren released the results Monday after being mocked and attacked by Republicans for claiming Native American heritage with no verification for decades. Warren’s results showed that she may have between 1/64th and 1/1,024th Indian heritage, though the test that did not use Native American DNA.
Messina, who served as President Barack Obama’s White House deputy chief of staff for operations and 2012 campaign manager, was not happy about the media storm that Warren created by releasing the results into the contentious 2018 election cycle. (RELATED: Elizabeth Warren Has Statistically Less Native American Blood Than Average White American, According To Study)
“Argue the substance all you want, but why 22 days before a crucial election where we MUST win house and senate to save America, why did @SenWarren have to do her announcement now?” he asked. “Why can’t Dems ever stay focused???”
Argue the substance all you want, but why 22 days before a crucial election where we MUST win house and senate to save America, why did @SenWarren have to do her announcement now? Why can’t Dems ever stay focused???
— Jim Messina (@Messina2012) October 15, 2018
Native American journalist Jacqueline Keeler accused Warren of “hurting” Indians with her release.
Keeler, who works for the Native American Journalist Association, said Warren was “fighting for HER political ascension but at the cost of OUR political credibility.”