Elizabeth Warren Says 'Right-Wing Extremists' Behind Cherokee Activists Protesting Her Ancestry Claims

Elizabeth Warren is accusing "right wing extremists" of supporting a group of Cherokees women who plan on confronting the Senate hopeful this week over her false ancestry claims and her decision to claim minority status while employed at Harvard Law School and University of Pennsylvania.

“The people of Massachusetts are concerned about their jobs, the future for their kids, and the security of their retirement. Scott Brown would rather talk about anything else. The out-of-state group in question is being promoted and supported by a right wing extremist who is on the record supporting and contributing money to Scott Brown. It is past time we moved on to the important issues facing middle class families in Massachusetts – even if Scott Brown won’t,” Warren's campaign said in a statement Tuesday.

However, the group of four Cherokee women say they have received no financial backing from U.S. Senator Scott Brown or Republican lawmakers and Warren is trying to do anything to make this controversy go away, the Boston Herald reports. In fact, one of the women said she is a left-leaning independent who voted for Obama in 2008, Sen. John Kerry in 2004 and has "never" cast a ballot for "a Bush" and another said she is a registered Democrat – if true, it could mean Warren is now grasping at straws.

The group did, however, meet with Brown staffers this week, Ellen Goss said, a Cherokee from Portland, Oregon. "We would like to hear his views on native sovereignty and what’s his commitment to making sure that native people are represented by actual native people."

Ali Sacks, a Cherokee from Warren's home state of Oklahoma, told the Boston Herald on Tuesday: "It’s cowardly to ride the coattails of people who have lost so much for your own benefit and not accomplish what you can accomplish on your own benefits. I think it’s shameful and extremely disrespectful not just to Cherokees but to all tribes who have given so much to this country historically and lost so much."

“There’s no political funds, there’s no Republican funding of us, there are no free meals or stays, lodging, none of that,” Sacks added. “This isn’t a Republican vs. Democrat issue.”

Cherokee genealogist Twila Barnes argues the gaffe is only a non-issue to Warren because she is still not willing to admit that she did something wrong.

“Poverty, teen suicide, our health care system,” Barnes said. “Those are issues and those are the people she stepped on and used to benefit and now she says it’s not an issue.

The group of four Cherokee women are in Boston for four days and they want to arrange a sit-down with Warren. And though a spokesperson for the Warren campaign told the Boston Herald on Sunday a staffer would talk with the group, they had heard nothing from the campaign as of Tuesday.

“What is wrong with sitting down with the people she claims to be a part of?” asked Sacks. “That’s all we’d like to do — educate her. She has the same opportunity to educate us if we’re the wrong ones. But she runs and avoids because she knows there’s nothing to back her claims.”

Further, in honor of Warren's birthday, which is on Friday, the Cherokees also plan on giving Warren a secret birthday present, the Herald reports. The group didn't say when they planned on giving the gift or whether or not they would sing "Happy Birthday," however, Warren has a campaign event on Thursday.

They insinuated they would make their presence known though.

“I think it will be more and more visible as it goes on,” Barnes added. “The governor said he was speaking for the commonwealth and that the people don’t care. By the end of the week, there’s a good possibility he’ll find out that people do care.”

To this day, Warren still argues that she was hired based on her merits and her "race" or minority status had nothing to do with it. Harvard Law School officials have also said race wasn't a factor.