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Tonight marked the first 2020 presidential debate between Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Moderated by Chris Wallace of Fox News, the rocky, interruption-ridden debate was comprised of six 15-minute segments that touched on key topics such as the Supreme Court, COVID-19, the economy, race and violence, and more.
President Trump kicked off the debate tonight by uttering a racial slur. While debating the Supreme Court as it stands, and whether Amy Coney Barret should be confirmed before Election Day, things took an ugly turn: Biden briefly mentioned that he beat Bernie Sanders in the primary, to which Trump said: “If Pocahontas would've left two days early, you would've lost every primary on Super Tuesday,” referring to his Democratic opponent at the time, Senator Elizabeth Warren. “You got very lucky.”
On the debate stage, Trump’s “Pocahontas” comment went unremarked upon, but it’s worth reiterating here: The president of the United States uttered a racist remark on live television. The remark, of course, referred to Warren and the controversy she endured back in 2018, when she repeatedly claimed Native American ancestry. At the time, Trump publicly accused Warren of falsely claiming her Cherokee heritage, and as a result, Warren went as far as taking a DNA test to prove it. The results confirm that the Massachusetts Democrat indeed has Native American roots, though very distantly; according to Stanford University genetics professor and 23andMe adviser Carlos Bustamante, there was “strong evidence” that Warren had a Native American relative “around six to 10 generations ago.”
After Warren's DNA tests were revealed in 2018, Trump said of Warren: “I can no longer call her Pocahontas, because she has no Indian blood.” This was our first taste of the president’s racist viewpoint of Indigenous people. The term and character of "Pocahontas" is a stereotypical and inaccurate depiction of a real-life Indigenous woman that has been constantly perpetuated (and over-sexualized) in Hollywood. Born in 1596, Pocahontas's real name was actually Amonute, and she belonged to the Pamunkey tribe. She was nothing like the "ally of the Englishmen" that we've seen of her on film; she was a real woman with her own story and agency.
While Trump's racist viewpoint of Indigenous people in 2018 (and tonight) was horrendous to hear, Warren played a big role in the “Pocahontas” debacle, as well; she was also largely criticized for using her (very faint) cultural lineage to her advantage—and purely for political gain. Warren later went on to apologize for taking the DNA test altogether, recognizing the harm she had done to the community.
“I know that I have made mistakes. I am sorry for the harm that I have caused. I have listened and I have learned,” she said. But with Trump bringing up the racial slur yet again tonight, it’s shown that Trump has neither learned nor apologized for his bigoted behavior. And that’s something that simply cannot be lost or skimmed over.
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September 30, 2020 at 10:00AM
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Yes, President Trump Really Dropped a Racial Slur on Live Television Tonight - Vogue
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