While honoring Native American veterans, Trump lobs favorite insult
The “code talkers” were Native American soldiers who were deployed during the world wars to send messages between units using a nearly uncrackable code: their native languages.
During World War II, Navajo men were recruited by the Marines and served in the Pacific theater, aiding in the defeat of the Japanese army. Their story has become well known, including being featuredin a 2002 film.
On Monday, President Donald Trump welcomed three of the 13 surviving veterans of the “code talker” program to the White House for an event honoring their service. Peter MacDonald, one of those survivors and chairman of the Navajo Nation, gave a speech describing his and his friends’ service and the losses their unit and the Americanforces incurred.
When he was done, Mr. Trump took the microphone. “That was so incredible, and now I don’t have to make my speech,” Mr. Trump said. “I had the most beautiful speech written out. I was so proud of it.” Instead, he closed the binder containing his speech and handed it to Mr. MacDonald. “I know you like me,” Mr. Trump added, “so I know you’ll save it.”
Then, speaking off the cuff, Mr. Trump made reference to his favorite insult of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, DMass.
“You were here long before any of us were here. Although we have a representative in Congress who they say was here a long time ago. They call her ‘Pocahontas,’ “he said with a chuckle. “But you know what? I like you.” The audience was quiet.
Mr. Trump’s pejorative use of “Pocahontas” originates from Ms. Warren’s having in the past claimed to have Native American heritage, a claim that has never been validated. The unproven assertion was used as a point of attack against Ms. Warren during her 2012 race against Scott Brown and was revived last year during Mr. Trump’s campaign for the presidency.
“Goofy Elizabeth Warren, sometimes referred to as Pocahontas because she faked the fact she is native American, is a lowlife!” Mr. Trump tweeted in May 2016.
Ms. Warren has been a consistent critic of Mr. Trump’s and, prior to joining the Senate, was one of the key advocates for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. That agency has been at the center of a fight over the past several days as Mr. Trump tries to overhaul it. Ms. Warren criticized Mr. Trump’s efforts in an interview with The Post on Monday.
Unsurprisingly, many Native Americans have taken offense at Mr. Trump’s use of Pocahontas’ name to disparage a political opponent. So, too, have many Republicans. When Mr. Trump used the expression in 2016, Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., expressed his disdain.
“It’s neither appropriate personally toward her, and frankly, it offends a much larger group of people,” Mr. Cole said at the time. “So I wish he would avoid that.” Instead, Mr. Trump not only used it Monday, but did so after explicitly mentioning that Mr. MacDonald’s “great friend” Tom Cole was in the audience.
In an interview on MSNBC shortly after Mr. Trump’s comments, Ms. Warrenresponded.
“It is deeply unfortunate,” she said, “that the president of the United States cannot make it through a ceremony honoring these heroes without throwing out a racial slur.”
Press secretary Sarah Sanders called Ms. Warren’s reply a “ridiculous response.”