Elizabeth Warren at a campaign rally in Massachusetts (Flickr)

Massachusetts Senator and Democrat Elizabeth Warren’s selection of “minority status” on certain documents were first revealed in 2012 when she was running for a seat in Congress.

Since then, she has received constant pressure to prove her Native American heritage and that she didn’t pose as a minority to advance her career. President Trump has taunted her with the nickname “Pocahontas” and even promised to donate 1 million dollars if she would take a DNA test that proved her Native heritage.

Now, Warren has dug her own political grave. In a head-scratching move, she publicly released the results of her DNA test as evidence of her Cherokee ancestry. Even though the test does “suggest” she has a definitive Native American ancestor, it also shows that her DNA is only between 1/64 to 1/1024 Native American. That means her Cherokee ancestor is anywhere from 6 to 10 generations in the past.

This bizarre defense of her heritage has drawn criticism from both sides.

The Cherokee Nation has condemned Warren’s claims. Cherokee Secretary of State, Chuck Hoskin, Jr. said, “DNA tests are useless to determine tribal citizenship” and denounced the Senator for “undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage.” In fact, Rebecca Nadge, an indigenous citizen and organizer of the Cherokee Nation, says, “No native tribe acknowledges DNA testing as a source for citizenship or even claim to native heritage.”

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham claims he is going to take a DNA test and can “beat” Warren in the amount of Cherokee heritage he has.

Now that doesn’t mean that Trump’s remarks weren’t over-the-line or warranted. It also doesn’t mean that Elizabeth Warren took advantage of her “minority status” for career advancement as some claim.

Yet as a fiery figurehead for liberalism, focusing on her race and genealogy, a subject that Democrats are starting to view as unimportant, is not the right move.

Before this, Elizabeth Warren was eyeing a potential 2020 presidential run. She probably would have been a leading Democratic candidat, but with her continued insistence of Cherokee heritage with the “evidence” of this new DNA test only makes the presidency harder to reach.

If the Democratic Party truly wants to take back the presidency from Trump, it needs a candidate with a clean history. If the party goes with Warren and her questionable past, it may just be Hillary Clinton all over again.