“I don’t think that would pass the test, no,” he said during a visit to the Rocky Boy’s Reservation, one of two he visited on Monday.

But Tester waved off the uproar over Warren’s claimed Native American roots as a sideshow to the more important issues affecting reservations in his state.

“I don’t think that’s where we need to go. That’s a fight between her and Trump and she can continue to have that fight. The real issue here are the challenges in Indian country, especially the tribes that don’t have gaming,” he said.