'Donald Trump appeared to make a joke about the Trail of Tears – the forced relocation of Native Americans leading to the deaths of thousands of people – as he mocked the launch of Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign.
The president tweeted about the senator for Massachusetts hours after she made her bid for the White House official on Saturday, deriding her claims at Native American ancestry by calling her “Pocahontas”.
He also tweeted: “Today Elizabeth Warren, sometimes referred to by me as Pocahontas, joined the race for President. Will she run as our first Native American presidential candidate, or has she decided that after 32 years, this is not playing so well anymore? See you on the campaign TRAIL, Liz!”
By capping up the word “trail”, Mr Trump made an apparent reference to the removal of Native Americans from ancestral lands onto reservations during the 1800s.
Donald Trump Jr. later appeared to encourage the interpretation of Mr Trump’s post by sharing a tweet by the right-wing commentator Michael Malice: “The Native American genocide continues with another murder by the president.”
Mr Trump has used the “Pocahontas” slur several times when talking about Ms Warren. He even used it at a ceremony honouring Navajo leaders at The White House in 2017.
The president also chose to hang a portrait of Andrew Jackson, the president who signed the Indian Removal Act into law in 1830, in the Oval Office.'
Read more: Trump appears to joke about Native American genocide in Elizabeth Warren 'Trail of Tears' tweet
