Elizabeth Warren: 5 Things To Know About Senator Who Has Endorsed Joe Biden For President
Senator Elizabeth Warren announced the end to her presidential campaign after the 2020 candidate’s popularity didn’t translate into results on Super Tuesday. Now, she’s endorsing Joe Biden for president.
UPDATE, 4/15/20, 10:05am ET: Senator Elizabeth Warren announced on April 15 that she is formally endorsing Joe Biden for president, over one month after dropping out of the race. “Empathy matters. And, in this moment of crisis, it’s more important than ever that the next president restores Americans’ faith in good, effective government,” Warren said in a video posted to social media. “Joe Biden has spent nearly his entire life in public service. He knows that a government run with integrity, competence, and heart will save lives and save livelihoods. And we can’t afford to let Donald Trump continue to endanger the lives and livelihoods of every American.” Her endorsement comes after Senator Bernie Sanders, their former 2020 co-competitor, as well as former President Barack Obama, announced they’re also endorsing Biden.
UPDATE, 3/5/20, 12:35pm ET: Elizabeth Warren tweeted a message to her supporters after the announcement, writing, “our work continues, the fight goes on, and big dreams never die. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.” She linked to a call she made with her campaign staff, in which she said, “So if you leave with only one thing, it must be this: choose to fight only righteous fights, because then when things get tough — and they will — you will know that there is only option ahead of you. Nevertheless, you must persist.”
UPDATE, 3/5/20, 10:56am ET: Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is dropping out of the 2020 presidential race, according to a source within her campaign. While Warren’s “big structural change” campaign gained her masses of supporters, her popularity waned during the primaries. Her decision to drop out comes two days after a disappointing Super Tuesday; Warren didn’t win a single state, and came in third place in Massachusetts. It’s thought that she’ll endorse Senator Bernie Sanders.
ORIGINAL: Senator Elizabeth Warren thrilled her supporters by announcing in December 2018 that she was taking the first step towards running for president in 2020, tweeting a video with the caption, “Every person in America should be able to work hard, play by the same set of rules, and take care of themselves and the people they love. That’s what I’m fighting for, and that’s why I’m launching an exploratory committee for president. I need you with me.” She officially announced her candidacy in February 2019, and she’s ready to crush President Donald Trump. Here’s what else you should know about this formidable Democratic candidate.
1. She went from a public school teacher to a Harvard professor. After graduating from the University of Houston, Warren taught children with disabilities at a public school, before deciding to go to law school at Rutgers University. Warren worked as a lawyer for several years while raising her two kids, Amelia and Alexander, then going back to Rutgers — this time to teach. She later became the assistant dean at the University of Houston Law Center, taught at the University of Texas School of Law, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania. After leaving Penn in 1995, Warren 1996 became the highest-paid professor at Harvard University.
2. She was the first elected female Massachusetts senator in US history. Warren announced her Senate campaign in 2011, and soon gained national attention after giving an impassioned speech about why she thinks the rich should pay more taxes — something she still believes today as a presidential candidate. “There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own,” Warren said. “Nobody. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for; you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate; you were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for.”
Joe Biden, her current rival in the 2020 presidential race, swore Warren into office in 2013. Warren has positioned herself as a champion of the middle class during her time in Senate and served on innumerable committees and subcommittees: the Committee on Armed Service, the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and a Special Committee on Aging.
Our work continues, the fight goes on, and big dreams never die. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. https://t.co/28kyKe777L
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) March 5, 2020
3. Her unofficial campaign slogan is “I have a plan for that.” Whatever the issue, Warren has a thoroughly thought-out plan in place. Her goals as president if elected in 2020, are to “end Washington corruption and fix our Democracy; make the rich pay their fair share; fight climate change and build a green economy; fix our broken healthcare system; ensure racial and economic justice and opportunity for all; raise wages and create more American jobs; hold big corporations accountable; build financial security for everyone; protect our communities, and fix our foreign policy and end our endless wars.” The details for each plan are laid out HERE.
4. She’s sparred with Donald Trump over her claims about Native American ancestry. Warren, a frequent Trump critic, was dubbed “Pocahontas” by the president for saying that she was part Cherokee. At a July 2018 rally, the president said he’d donate $1 million to the charity of her choice if she took a DNA test that proved she’s Native American. She did, and asked him to donate to the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center. Trump claimed he never made the bet, and still uses the bigoted nickname when referring to the senator.
Warren said in 2012 while running for Senate that she and her brothers had been told by older relatives that they had Cherokee ancestry, saying, “being Native American has been part of my story, I guess, since the day I was born.” She faced backlash when it was revealed that she was listed as Native American in Harvard’s federal affirmative action forms, with some, including Republican opponent Scott Brown, claiming that she used her supposed heritage to get ahead. A comprehensive investigation by the Boston Globe concluded that she didn’t benefit professionally.
Cherokee leaders criticized her taking the DNA test, because although it determined that she was a very small percentage Native American, she didn’t share their heritage or culture. Warren apologized for any “harm” she caused at an August 2019 presidential forum on Native American issues in Sioux City. “I have listened and I have learned a lot, and I am grateful for the many conversations that we’ve had together,” she said.
5. She helped create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In 2008, long before she was a senator, Warren was asked by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to come to Washington, DC, to lend her expertise. Reid proposed that Warren, then a lawyer, head a commission overseeing the Wall Street bailout. That led to the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a government agency that has given $12 billion back to Americans after the recession.
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