President Trump on Monday took a hit at Sen. Elizabeth Warren during an event honoring Native American veterans.
"You were here long before any of us were here,” Trump said to the three Navajo veterans who helped the U.S. Marine Corps develop a secret code during World War II. “Although we have a representative in Congress who they say was here a long time ago. They call her Pocahontas.”
Trump told the veterans he asked White House Chief of Staff John Kelly just how good the code talkers were.
'He said, ‘sir, you have no idea. You have no idea how great they were.’”
Warren slammed the president over the “racial slur” moments after he made it.
“It is deeply unfortunate that the president of the United States can’t even make it through a ceremony honoring these heroes without throwing out a racial slur,” the Massachusetts senator said during an appearance on MSNBC shortly afterward.
“This was supposed to be an event to honor heroes, people who put it all on the line for our country,” Warren continued, adding that the code talkers "saved the lives of countless Americans and our allies."
Trump has repeatedly used the term ‘Pocahontas’ to refer to Warren, who falsely claimed to be Native American until she became a tenured Harvard professor.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended Trump's remark, saying it was not a racial slur.
“I think what most people find offensive is Sen. Warren lying about her heritage to advance her career," she told reporters.