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The Big Lies › 2018 › File PF-0140
Retracted

Boston Globe Botches Warren DNA Math Twice

The Globe's front-page story on Sen. Elizabeth Warren's DNA test said a Native American ancestor six to 10 generations back would make her between 1/32 and 1/512 Native American.

First reported Oct 15, 2018 · The Boston Globe
Screenshot of the original report as published
Screenshot of the report as published: bostonglobe.com (archived copy, Wayback Machine). Tap to open the source.
Who it helped: Democrats

The math error overstated Warren's possible Native American ancestry during her dispute with Trump.

What was reported

The Globe's front-page story on Sen. Elizabeth Warren's DNA test said a Native American ancestor six to 10 generations back would make her between 1/32 and 1/512 Native American.

What actually happened

The Globe first corrected the range to 1/32 to 1/1,024, then issued a second correction the same day because that was also wrong. The final corrected range was 1/64 to 1/1,024. The original figure had doubled the upper bound of Warren's possible Native ancestry.

The proof

The Globe's own 'For the record' correction acknowledges that the story misstated the math.

The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:

Boston Globe Botches Warren DNA Math Twice — Retracted. The Globe's own 'For the record' correction acknowledges that the story misstated the math. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/boston-globe-warren-dna-math/

Original reporting

Corrections, findings & records

Archived copies

Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.

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