Warren admits she's 'concerned' about her campaign in wake of heritage controversy

Elizabeth Warren admitted Thursday that she was "concerned" about her U.S. Senate campaign after repeated stumbles in addressing the controversy surrounding her claims of Native American heritage.

“Of course I’m concerned,’’ Warren told the Boston Globe. “I decided to run for the Senate because the middle class has been hammered and Washington doesn’t get it. I want to talk about Scott Brown’s voting record. He has worked hard to make this campaign about anything else, even my heritage, and he’s not spending time on what Massachusetts voters are concerned about.”

Earlier this week, Warren admitted she had told at least two former employers — Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania — that she had Cherokee heritage, doing so after she'd already been hired. Warren has not substantiated that claim, aside from saying that her parents had repeatedly told her that her extended family tree included Native American blood.

That admission prompted Warren's opponent, incumbent Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), to urge her at a campaign stop Thursday "to tell the truth and answer the questions."

"My mom and dad have told me a lot of things too, but it’s not accurate. You know, you have to, especially in these type of things, when you’re checking a box and you’re getting benefits that are entitled to people who need them and who historically have been discriminated upon, and you have others relying on those representations, it is a problem," Brown added.

That statement quickly drew fire from the Warren campaign, which issued a statement accusing Brown of attacking the Senate challenger's parents and arguing they should not be "fair game."

“Scott Brown’s comments about my parents are totally out of line. I resent him questioning their honesty. My mother and father are not here to defend themselves and should be off limits. Don and Pauline Herring are not fair game and Scott Brown should apologize," Warren said.

But the Brown campaign quickly dismissed Warren's call for an apology, and Warren's rebuttal seemed to gain little traction.

“This is the second time Elizabeth Warren has made this pathetic and baseless accusation in an attempt to escape personal responsibility for spending five weeks misleading the press and the public. With so many new questions piling up, she would be wise to come clean, stop the stonewalling and tell the truth, rather than making up frivolous and false attacks against Scott Brown," said Brown spokesman Colin Reed.

Democrats have begun publicly expressing concern over the Warren campaign's handling of the issue, urging the candidate to put the story to bed.

"There has to be an answer for this at some point, something that's full and comprehensive and has some closure to it as opposed to the way it's been dragged out — like water torture," Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) told The Hill on Friday.

"I think you just need to get it out there, lay your cards out on the table and then you can move on," he added. "But feeding a little bit of information every week or so, that's just keeping it going and it's taken on a life of its own at this point. If they want it to go away they need to address it. They can't pretend it's not there, which is the approach they've been taking thus far."

Cameron Joseph contributed to the reporting of this article.

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