While the White House is gearing up to fight a months-long impeachment battle with Congress, Elizabeth Warren’s populist message of railing against corruption, concentrated wealth, and a rigged economic system has gained new relevance as President Trump sets his sights on her chief primary rival.
“We have a Washington that works great for the rich, the powerful, the well-connected,” Warren told supporters in New York City earlier this month. “And here’s the deal: When a government works for the rich, the powerful, and the well-connected and isn’t working for anyone else, that’s corruption, plain and simple, and we need to call it out.”
Warren made those remarks just before a whistleblower came forward accusing Trump of threatening to withhold military aid to Ukraine unless its government investigated son Hunter Biden, and his time serving on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma — earning him as much as $50,000 monthly.
That kind of cushy deal — where the child of a high-power politician can score a high-paying job he’s seemingly unqualified for — is the exact kind of soft corruption Warren has promised voters she’ll end.
As much as Democrats who spoke to the Washington Examiner were reluctant to grant any legitimacy to Trump’s attack on Biden, several said that his branding of the former vice president as a self-serving Washington insider could hold resonance during the primary.
“The president and his henchmen will continue lashing out at Biden, which will surely do damage to him in the long term,” said Democratic strategist Jim Manley. “It may not be fair, but the reality is that for the days and weeks to come, Biden folks know that they have a real problem here.”
As for Warren, she “should continue her path on talking about corruption,” said Manley, a former Senate leadership aide. “But I don’t think she should pile on,” helping her contrast her message with Biden.
Since she announced her White House run in February, Warren has relatively avoided confronting Biden head-on. Her most pointed attack on Biden came in April, where she accused him of being “on the side of the credit card companies.”
That attack sparked memories of their fights in 2005, when the then-Harvard Law School professor and Delaware senator sparred over a bill to reform the nation’s bankruptcy laws.
“I know you will, but let’s call a spade a spade,” Biden told her at the time. “Your problem with credit card companies is usury rates from your position. It is not about the bankruptcy bill.”
“But senator,” Warren responded, “if you are not going to fix that problem, you can’t take away the last shred of protection from these families.”
“I got it, OK,” Biden said. “You are very good professor.”
Yet Warren targeting credit card companies holds particular relevance to Biden, who once earned the moniker the “Senator from MBNA,” due to his close ties with the credit-card issuer.
Hunter Biden, a centerpiece of the Ukraine scandal, eventually became an executive vice-president of the Delaware-based company, as its employees showered thousands of dollars into his father’s campaign coffers.
A number of polls this week show Warren either barely trailing or surpassing Biden, with a Quinnipiac survey released Wednesday morning showing her at 27% support with Biden at 25%, and Democratic insiders saying Biden’s slip in the polls is due to voters feeling fatigue over his growing number of gaffes and scandals.
