Sen. Elizabeth Warren made headlines last week when she released her DNA test results to The Boston Globe, which provided evidence that she does have some Native American ancestry — but barely.

Faced with backlash over angered Native American groups, Warren now says because Americans’ trust in government is “at an all-time low” she wanted to be transparent… about her DNA.

During a debate against Republican state Rep. Geoff Diehl in the U.S. Senate race, Warren claimed that she took the test proving her Native American DNA in an effort to “rebuild confidence” in the government.

Warren was asked by a moderator at the debate why she had said, in March, that no DNA test was needed to prove she had some Native American heritage.

Ultimately, she said, she took a DNA test “so anybody can take a look. … I believe one way that we try to rebuild confidence is through transparency.”

Diehl shot back that the issue “is not about Sen. Warren’s ancestry, it’s about integrity in my mind, and I don’t care whether you think you benefited or not from that claim. It’s the fact that you tried to benefit from that claim that I think bothers a lot of people and it’s something you haven’t been able to put to rest since the 2012 campaign,” when she first mentioned having Native American heritage.

He added, “I don’t care what percentage she claims to be Native American; I just care that I’m 100 percent for Massachusetts and will be working for the people of this state.”

Diehl said that it’s “obvious” Warren doesn’t want to be senator anymore, but rather, president. “She’s been campaigning in states that are more important to her than Massachusetts,” he said.

Since releasing her DNA test results, Warren has faced plenty of backlash, with many Americans calling the decision self-serving.

 

FLASHBACK: Elizabeth Warren’s DNA stunt just completely backfired…

The Associated Press contributed to this article.