Sen. Elizabeth Warren responded to a jab from President Donald Trump, who recently resurfaced one of his favorite derogatory insults in reference to Warren’s Native American heritage: “Pocahontas.”
Over the weekend, Trump told a crowd of NRA members in Atlanta that the candidates for the 2020 election might include Warren, though she has denied claims that she would run.
“I have a feeling that in the next election … it may be Pocahontas,” Trump said, “and she is not big for the NRA.”
Warren described Trump’s comments as yet more smoke and mirrors — distracting the public from more important issues.
“He’s the master of distraction here,” Warren said during an interview with Boston Public Radio Monday. “No matter how many slurs he throws or 3 a.m. tweets he does, right now, he’s got power. We’ve got to stay focused on what he actually does because now it’s really about accountability.”
Warren criticized Trump’s recent legislative record on employment and labor, which she says disadvantages working and middle-class Americans.
“He’s the guy who promised to drain the swamp, and then turned around and handed the keys to the economy over to Goldman Sachs,” Warren said. “To me, it’s a lot less about name-calling and a lot more about what kind of changes he’s making in people’s lives. Those changes are not good. Over time, I think that’s going to show.”
Warren defended former President Obama, whom she had criticized earlier in the week for receiving a $400,000 sum from a Wall Street firm for a speech. On Thursday, Warren told SiriusXM’s Alter Family Politics she was “troubled” by Obama’s choice to accept the money. On Monday, she clarified her comments.
“I also want to be clear here about false equivalence,” Warren said. “President Obama stood up and fought to get the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau— in fact, he had to fight with people in his own administration who were prepared to throw it under the bus.”
“I worry about the influence of money on Washington,” Warren continued, “but I also know who has been out there fighting for the consumer financial protection bureau, who has been out there fighting for more funding for NIH, who has been out there fighting to raise the minimum wage, who has been fighting to reduce the interest rate on student loans, I don’t want to lose the forest here.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s new book is "This Fight Is Our Fight: The Battle To Save America's Middle Class." To hear her full interview with Boston Public Radio, click on the audio player above.
