Elizabeth Warren said Monday that she had already received donations from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., supporting her potential 2020 campaign for the White House, within hours of announcing that she was exploring a campaign.
The Massachusetts senator had announced Monday morning in a four-minute video that she had formed a committee to explore the possibility of a presidential bid.
“Today already, since I’ve made the announcement this morning, I’ve already received donations from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico,” Warren told reporters Monday in Boston. “That’s how you build a grassroots campaign.”
“I believe that, as Democrats, the way we’re going to win in 2020 is by building a grassroots movement all across this country, and that means we have to build this movement with small-dollar donors, with volunteers, with real people,” she said. “I don’t think we ought to be running campaigns that are funded by billionaires, whether it goes through super PACS or their own money that they are spending.”
Warren’s move follows former Obama administration Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro filing paperwork earlier this month to establish his own exploratory committee.
More than two dozen Democrats could seek the party’s nomination to challenge President Trump. Early polling suggests the favorites include former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and outgoing Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, none of whom have made their intentions regarding 2020 publicly known.
Warren said Monday the size of the primary field does not intimidate her.
“I think it’s great that we have a strong and growing group of Democrats who are making these arguments, who are fighting these fights. That’s how we build a movement. We do it together,” Warren told reporters when asked about the similarities between her and other speculated presidential hopefuls, such as Sanders and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.
“I never thought I would run for anything ever in my life, but America’s middle class is getting hollowed out, and opportunity for too many of our young people is shrinking, so I’m in this fight all the way,” she said. “Right now, Washington works great for the wealthy and the well-connected. It’s just not working for anyone else. But I’m optimistic. I believe in what we can do together. I’m going to build a grassroots campaign. It’s already got people from all across this country that are going to be part of it, and together we’re going to make change.”
