U.S. Senate candidate Loretta Sanchez apologized Sunday for making a stereotypical Native American “war cry” gesture that disrupted the opening phase of her campaign.
In remarks to hundreds of delegates at the state Democratic Party convention in Anaheim, the Orange County congresswoman said Native Americans “know that I have always had their backs.”
“And they know what many of you don’t know — that like so many Mexican Americans, I am proudly Native American on my mother’s side,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, made the controversial gesture Saturday while joking with a group of Indian Americans about confusing an Indian American with a Native American. Video of the gaffe on Twitter and YouTube showed Sanchez tapping her hand to her mouth in an imitation of a war cry.
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