Trump promotes Ted Cruz comment that Elizabeth Warren should be 'more welcoming as a Native American'

Texas senator invokes 'Pocahontas' slur as Democratic presidential candidate apologises for reports of 'toxic work environment' for minorities

Elizabeth Warren has apologised to six women of colour who left her campaign in Nevada after claims that the campaign fostered a "toxic work environment" that tokenised minorities.

The Massachusetts senator and 2020 candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination told MSNBC host Chris Hayes on Thursday that she believes the women "without any equivocation" and takes responsibility for their departure.

She said she's working to address those complaints with her staff despite her intention to "build a campaign and a work environment that's diverse and open, [where] everyone is welcome and celebrated and gets to bring their whole self to work every day".

She said she is also "very aware that racism and oppression in this country have left a long legacy, and it creates the kind of toxicity where power structures, people take advantage of other people – it's something for which we have to be constantly vigilant and constantly determined to do better."

Republican Senator Ted Cruz attacked Ms Warren on Twitter, invoking Donald Trump's slur "Pocahontas" to mock her allegedly fabricated claim to Native American ancestry to advance her career, though there's no evidence to suggest that it benefited her professionally.

Mr Cruz said: "One would think a Native American woman would be more welcoming."

The president retweeted the post to his timeline.

At his rallies and in his remarks ahead of the 2020 election, Mr Trump has revived his use of the pejorative nickname – using the name of the Native American teenager who was kidnapped, held to ransom, encouraged to convert to Christianity, and sent to London where she died at age 21 in the early 1600s.

Ms Warren is campaigning in New Hampshire ahead of the state's 11 February primary election following her third-place finish in Iowa on Monday.

On Thursday, an article in Politico said three out of six women who left her 70-person Nevada team ahead of that state's caucus on 22 February felt "marginalised" by the campaign, despite attempts to report their complaints to human resources staff and their superiors.

The campaign has not disputed the women's accounts and says their experience doesn't reflect the organisation's mission to promote an "inclusive environment".

Their departure follows a shift in Democratic party and campaign organisations to address its historic lack of diversity in leadership, with few women and people of colour in top positions.