Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is “a lot weaker than he wants to admit” and went after his business record and financial acumen.
“Is he a great businessman? He’s a guy who inherited millions of dollars from his father, and then he managed to expand that by defrauding students through things like Trump University and cheating others by declaring Chapter 11 and not paying his creditors,” Ms. Warren said in an interview this week with Mic.
It’s the latest salvo in a heated back-and-forth between Ms. Warren, a former university professor and fan of left-wing financial regulation, and Mr. Trump, who has made and lost billions of dollars in real estate and other ventures.
“You know, there are some people who [analyzed] the portfolio that he’s got and say, ’shoot, if he’d just taken the money he inherited and invested it in the stock market, he’d have more money today than he has through all of his investments,” Ms. Warren said.
She also said Mr. Trump bristles when people challenge him, or demand accountability — which she said will hurt Mr. Trump over the next six months.
“I think he’s actually a lot — a lot weaker than he wants to admit,” she said.
Mr. Trump dismissed Ms. Warren, who was first elected in 2012, as “a senator that has done nothing” earlier this week on Fox News, and has taken to calling her “goofy Elizabeth Warren” on Twitter and mocking her claims of Native American heritage.
“Really? That’s the best you [could] come up with?” Ms. Warren said when asked about the nickname. “Come on. I thought Donald Trump said he was a guy who was good with words.”
In the same interview, Ms. Warren — who many liberals wanted to launch her own run for president in 2016 — also did not rule out running as Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton’s ticket mate.
Politico reported Thursday that Vice President Joseph R. Biden was actually considering Ms. Warren as a possible vice presidential pick when he was pondering a 2016 White House run. Mr. Biden announced in October that he would not seek the Democratic nomination.
Ms. Warren has not endorsed either Mrs. Clinton or Sen. Bernard Sanders in the Democratic primary, but her attacks on Mr. Trump could be an indication that she is planning to actively work to prevent him from winning the White House no matter who ends up as the Democratic nominee.
She also said in the interview that both Mr. Sanders’ candidacy and the Democratic primary process have helped provide clear demarcators between the Democratic and Republican parties.
“He’s put forward the arguments about what it means to be a Democrat,” Ms. Warren said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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