Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is expected to withhold her endorsement for the remaining presidential candidates during the Democratic Party’s nominating process.
Warren is unlikely to endorse either Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders or former Vice President Joe Biden during the remainder of the Democratic primary, according to the New York Times. Warren has been reticent on the matter since the two publicly brawled in January over whether Sanders said a woman couldn’t win the presidency.
“Anybody who knows me knows that it’s incomprehensible that I would think that a woman cannot be president of the United States,” he said. “Go to YouTube today. There’s a video of me 30 years ago talking about how a woman could become president of the United States,” Sanders responded, addressing the matter in a January Democratic primary debate.
Following the debate, Warren confronted Sanders over his denial. “I think you called me a liar on national TV,” Warren said to Sanders, with Sanders promptly ending the discussion. “Let’s not do it now,” Sanders said.
However, after the Super Tuesday elections, Warren has spoken to Sanders multiple times and with Biden only once.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an ardent supporter of Sanders, told the New York Times that she understands Warren’s hesitancy to endorse either candidate.“I always want to see us come together as a progressive wing,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I think that’s important and where we draw strength from. But, at the same time, I come from the lens of an organizer, and if someone doesn’t do what you want, you don’t blame them — you ask why. And you don’t demand that answer of that person — you reflect. And that reflection is where you can grow.”
Warren did not endorse Sanders when he ran against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016, either, adding to speculation that she may remain neutral. “That was the template that she designed in 2016,” said Brian Fallon, a former employee of Clinton’s, to the New York Times. “Wait back, hold until the nomination is settled, and then be very practical and hard-boiled about what your asks are.”
