Franken also ventured sharp opinions on other topics, calling new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos "the least qualified nominee I've ever seen." | Getty Franken dings Trump over Warren insult

Minnesota Sen. Al Franken on Sunday assailed President Donald Trump over his latest reported insult of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, saying he would have told the president the remark was "racist."

At a White House meeting Thursday with some of Franken's Senate colleagues, Trump was reported to have referred to Warren as "Pocahontas," a moniker he had previously used to ding the Massachusetts Democrat over her past claim to some sort of Native American heritage. Neither Franken nor Warren was at the meeting.


"I would have said something," Franken told Jake Tapper on CNN's "State of the Union."

When asked to elaborate on what he would have said if he had been there, Franken said: "Mr. President, with all due respect, that's racist. Please stop doing that. I am on Indian Affairs. This is completely unacceptable. You really should stop doing this, it doesn't serve anybody."

Trump had dubbed Warren "Pocahontas" on other occasions. Back in June, he tweeted: "Pocahontas is at it again! Goofy Elizabeth Warren, one of the least productive U.S. Senators has a nasty mouth. Hope she is V.P. choice."

On Sunday, the sharp-tongued Franken also zinged the administration on other topics, calling new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos "the least qualified nominee I've ever seen" and saying an "independent investigation" on the Trump administration's connections to Russia is needed. "He has sidled up to Putin in so many ways," Franken said of the president.

On CNN, Franken also doubled down on his comments Friday on HBO's comedic "Real Time With Bill Maher," saying that at least some of his colleagues are privately worried about the president's mental health.

"A few," the Democratic senator said in answering Tapper's question about whether his GOP colleagues are worried about Trump's state of mind. "Not the majority of them, but a few."

Asked why, Franken said, "He lies a lot, he says things that aren't true," citing Trump's remarks about massive voter fraud in the November election, including his assertion last week about illegal voters being brought from Massachusetts to New Hampshire.

Franken added: "That is not the norm for a president of the United States or actually for a human being."

