Rob Lowe on Saturday tweeted and deleted a joking reference to U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and her distant Native American ancestry.
“Elizabeth Warren would bring a whole new meaning to Commander in ‘Chief,’” the former “West Wing” and “Parks and Recreation” star wrote on Saturday — before deleting the tweet after online outcry, including from many fellow Hollywood figures.
“It was a joke and some peeps got upset, and that’s never my intention,” Lowe wrote in a follow-up tweet late Saturday. “On the GOOD side: I just got to use the Oxford comma!”
(Note to the actor: The Oxford comma actually refers to a comma used at the end of a written list of at least three items, as in the comma before the and here: Larry, Curly, and Moe.)
I deleted my Elizabeth Warren tweet. It was a joke and some peeps got upset, and that’s never my intention. On the GOOD side: I just got to use the Oxford comma!
— Rob Lowe (@RobLowe) February 10, 2019
However, the actor faced serious backlash for the original tweet — particularly from fellow left-leaning stars in Hollywood.
“What a raw blow!” “Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill tweeted.
“That’s not funny,” added Vincent D’Onofrio added.
Former sitcom star Valerie Bertinelli tweeted, “Don’t. Jesus.”
Don’t. Jesus.
— Valerie Bertinelli (@Wolfiesmom) February 10, 2019
What a raw blow!
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) February 10, 2019
That's not funny.
— Vincent D'Onofrio (@vincentdonofrio) February 10, 2019
Just when I was liking Rob Lowe after his moving comments about being his mom’s caretaker—he takes a page from Trump. Ick. You shouldn’t do this: https://t.co/TUgmoMNn8B
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) February 9, 2019
Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who announced her 2020 presidential candidacy on Saturday, has come under fire for past claims of Native American heritage.
She apologized to the Cherokee nation last Tuesday for releasing a DNA test last year that showed she had a relative who was Native American 6-10 generations ago, the Washington Post reported. The Post also dug up Warren’s 1986 registration card from the Texas State Bar in which she identified her race as “American Indian.”
In his own tweet on Saturday, President Trump repeated his mocking reference to Warren as “Pocahontas” while welcoming her to the 2020 race.
“See you on the campaign TRAIL, Liz,” he added, which some online took as a reference to the forced relocation of Native Americans in the 19th century dubbed the Trail of Tears.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1094368870415110145