Twitter Melts Down Over Trump’s ‘Pocahontas’ Remark at Native American Event
During a White House event honoring Navajo code talkers this afternoon, President Donald Trump decided to toss out his well-worn slur against Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) — Pocahontas. Yep, he thought it would be a good idea to crack a joke that would certainly go over like a lead balloon in that particular setting.
And it absolutely did, spawning an uncomfortable silence. Immediately following the Pocahontas mention, Trump placed his hand on one of the honorees’ shoulder and told the man that he “liked” him because he was very “special.”
As one would imagine, Twitter absolutely blew up as soon as Trump’s comments were reported. And the reaction was largely along the lines of: “WTF?!”
POTUS made a reference to “Pocahontas” a/k/a Elizabeth Warren in his remarks and they’re standing in front of a portrait of Andrew Jackson who, among other things, signed the Indian Removal Act which led to the death of 15,000 Native Americans https://t.co/FdbMyzwWuq https://t.co/PbL83hLUsY
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) November 27, 2017
People were joking that Trump was going to disparage Warren as “Pocahontas” at an event honouring Native veterans. Trump…just…did it.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 27, 2017
It would be bigger news if Trump refrained from calling Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” at an event honoring Native American code talkers
— eve peyser (@evepeyser) November 27, 2017
Hoooboy https://t.co/Ito01LuNR4
— ana marie cox (@anamariecox) November 27, 2017
I honestly don’t know how much more of this I can take. This is utter fucking insanity. https://t.co/WvPL6WP0bb
— John Iadarola (@johniadarola) November 27, 2017
Even if you don’t believe that Elizabeth Warren is part Native American, you have to understand why a ceremony honoring Navajo Code Talkers is not the place for a Pocahontas joke
— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) November 27, 2017
The “Pocahontas” stuff against Warren is exhibit Z in the never-ending case of how Trump takes legitimate conservative gripes and makes them completely politically toxic
— Griswold Christmas Vacation (@HashtagGriswold) November 27, 2017
Saddest part about this moment is how utterly unsurprising it is. https://t.co/S7EiU4MupA
— Matt Wilstein (@mattwilstein) November 27, 2017
jesus christ https://t.co/bl2mT50psa
— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) November 27, 2017
This, at a basic ceremonial function, goes a long way toward explaining how Pres. Trump has a 37% approval rating despite steady economy and routing of ISIS. https://t.co/y6pUEkK20p
— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) November 27, 2017
There’s no amount of opprobrium you could heap on Trump that would hurt more than the deafening silence that followed that joke. https://t.co/qEKV1BXokj
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) November 27, 2017
If Trump held a Hanukkah event & called Chuck Schumer a kike, wouldn’t reporters call him antisemitic? So why is calling Native Americans Pocahontas any different?
— Adam Blickstein (@AdamBlickstein) November 27, 2017
Following Trump’s remarks, Warren responded, telling MSNBC’s Ali Velshi that Trump couldn’t even get through an event honoring heroes without throwing “out a racial slur.”
[image via screengrab]
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