U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren visited the State House on Wednesday to help celebrate the start of a new legislative session on Beacon Hill as she prepares to take her own oath in Washington later this week and then head to Iowa for the first trip of her young presidential campaign.
Warren, who announced on New Year's Eve that she would set up an exploratory committee to run for president in 2020, said she's hoping to listen to voters all over the country. But as she prepares to head to Iowa, she did not disclose any plans to visit the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire.
"I sure hope to. I hope to get out and talk to people everywhere," Warren said about the prospects of visiting New Hampshire soon.
Warren, along with U.S. Sen. Edward Markey and other officials, attended the swearing-in ceremonies for lawmakers in both the House and Senate as Legislature kicked off a new two-year session on Wednesday. She arrived at the State House with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, with whom she had coffee prior to the events.
"Senator Liz Warren, they gave me nothing about you," House Dean Rep. Angelo Scaccia said as he introduced Warren and other high-ranking state officials during Wednesday's session. "You also are going on to bigger and better things, later. I appreciate what you have done in the short time you have been our United States senator. Another individual who has brought equality in so many issues to the people in this state and to the people of the United States of America."
Earlier in the day, Warren's campaign announced that she would be making a four-city swing through Iowa this weekend, with stops planned in Council Bluffs, Sioux City, Storm Lake and Des Moines.
"I am in this fight because I believe Washington is working for the rich and the powerful. I believe Washington is corrupt. I see it firsthand. That's what pulls me in. That's why I'm in this fight," Warren told a scrum of reporters from both local and national outlets waiting for her outside the House chamber.
Warren brushed off questions about her popularity outside of Massachusetts and recent polls that have raised questions about her viability as a national candidate.
"This is a moment in America where people really want to get the focus back on the things that touch their lives, about things like student loans and what it costs to get a prescription filled and how Social Security need to be strengthened," Warren said.
Since announcing her exploratory committee on New Year's Eve, her social media posts, including one video of her drinking a beer in her kitchen before going to watch Casablanca with her husband Bruce, have been heavily scrutinized.
Some critics have questioned whether she can operate with the same social media playbook popularized by candidates like Beto O'Rourke during his Texas Senate run or Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York.
Warren, however, said she views tools like Instagram as a way to "invite people into your home."
"I wish I could just open the door and have lots of folks in, but this is a way to do it so that we get a chance to just, kind of, talk about what's going on," Warren said.
As for that beer she cracked, Warren said she drinks Michelob Ultra. "The club soda of beers," she said.
