Lindsey Graham says it would be "terrible" if a DNA test revealed that he had an Iranian heritage.

Senator Lindsey O. Graham said Tuesday that it would be "terrible" if a DNA test revealed that he had an Iranian heritage, a comment that a Fox News Channel host tried to bring back just after that the Republican from South Carolina did it.

Graham made the remark at the end of an interview on "Fox & Friends," during which he was asked about Senator Elizabeth Warren's recent announcement (D-Mass.) That she would have spent a DNA test linking it to a distant native. American ancestor.

"I'm going to have a DNA test," Graham said, adding, "It was said that my grandmother was a Cherokee Indian, everything can be just talking, but you'll know it in a few weeks because I I'll take it, and the result will be revealed here. "

Graham, one of Congress President Trump's closest congressional allies, said he thought he was more Native American than Warren.

"It's less than a tenth of a percent," Graham said. "I think I can beat her."

Warren's DNA test revealed that it was probably between 1/64 and 1/1024 of Native Americans.

[The Elizabeth Warren Native American ancestry debate, explained]

At the end of the interview, Steve Doocy, co-host of "Fox & Friends", invited Graham to "come back in a few weeks and we'll take a look at it".

Brian Kilmeade, another co-host of the series, added, "We will find out who you really are."

Graham replied, "I will probably be Iranian. It would be terrible.

Doocy and Graham shared a moment of laughter, after which Kilmeade quickly sought to change Graham's remark.

"Well, they have great people, just bad leaders," he said. Graham replied, "Yes, bad leaders, I'm not in the branch of Ayatollah."

The remark provoked outrage online Tuesday morning. Actress Yara Shahidi called this a "disgusting manifestation of racism and fanaticism".