Donald Trump's interpersonal skills reached a new low Monday at a White House event honoring Navajo code talkers.
"I just want to thank you because you are very, very special people. You were here long before any of us were here," the President said. "Although, we have a representative in Congress who has been here a long time ... longer than you. They call her Pocahontas!"
According to CNN, he then "turned to one of the code talkers behind him, put his left hand on the man's shoulder, and said: 'But you know what, I like you. You are special people.'"
Trump first started referring to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, whom he did not mention by name, as "Pocahontas" after, according to Snopes, "a meme targeting Sen. Elizabeth Warren began to circulate on social media sites. In it, Warren is framed as hypocritically exploiting programs aimed at Native Americans to achieve wealth and political power. Examples cited include her purported $5.4 million mansion and a high-paying gig at Harvard University achieved, the meme insinuates, solely due to her possessing a small amount of Native American heritage."
Sen. Warren, it should be noted, did not live in a $5.4 million mansion (her house was bought in 1995 for $500,000), nor is there any evidence that she used her heritage to gain a position at Harvard or anywhere else. Not that the truth has ever stopped Trump from being racist.
While "Pocahontas" is now considered a racial slur (Native groups have condemned the use of the term, which refers to a historical figure from the 1600s), when asked about the incident Monday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said "it certainly was not the President's intent" to be racist. Then she attacked Warren herself. "I think Sen. Warren was very offensive when she lied about something specifically to advance her career," Sanders said, "and I don't understand why no one is asking about that question and why that isn't constantly covered." (Maybe because it's a fucking MEME?)
Sen. Warren later responded to Trump on MSNBC: "It is deeply unfortunate that the President of the United States cannot even make it through a ceremony honoring these heroes without having to throw out a racial slur," she said. "Donald Trump does this over and over thinking somehow he is going to shut me up with it. It hasn't worked out in the past, it isn't going to work out in the future."
