Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is preparing to seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.
Warren on Monday tweeted and emailed to supporters a a video announcing that she has formed an exploratory committee for a White House bid — a technicality that allows her to raise money without yet formally declaring. In doing so, Warren effectively became the highest-profile Democrat to jump into the race.
“In our country, if you work hard and play by the rules, you ought to be able to take care of yourself and the people you love,” Warren said in the video, adding that “America’s middle class is under attack.”
Warren’s four-and-a-half-minute announcement video touted her populist bona fides.
“How did we get here? Billionaires and big corporations decided they wanted more of the pie. And they enlisted politicians to cut them a bigger slice,” she said.
[Read: 45 Democrats jostling to challenge Trump in 2020]
Every person in America should be able to work hard, play by the same set of rules, & take care of themselves & the people they love. That’s what I’m fighting for, & that’s why I’m launching an exploratory committee for president. I need you with me: https://t.co/BNl2I1m8OX pic.twitter.com/uXXtp94EvY
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) December 31, 2018
The video, which was partially a biographical story, partly an appeal to the middle class losing economic advantage, made no mention of her decision to release a DNA test that aimed to clear up questions over her Native American heritage.
Warren, who made claims of Native American ancestry in law school professorship applications decades ago, underwent a DNA test that revealed her Native American lineage may be as low as 1/1024th American Indian.
President Trump has repeatedly taunted Warren over her claims of Native American heritage. And in recent years she’s downplayed any such assertions. Warren said she is “not a person of color” during a winter commencement address at Morgan State, a historically black college in Maryland.
The Boston Globe, which published an editorial a few years ago urging her to run for president in the last cycle, published another editorial earlier this month saying that she “missed her moment in 2016,” and would no longer make a good candidate for president.
The Democratic field is likely to be crowded, with many high profile Democrats who have said they’re considering running. That includes former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and potentially dozens more, though none have yet joined Warren in making a formal announcement.
