White House rips Warren, calls trade opposition a bid to feed ‘draft’ effort

“If this absurd attack on Senator Warren and her supporters didn’t sadly demonstrate how grossly out-of-touch the White House is from an American public who’ve seen NAFTA-style trade deals like the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership rip apart their communities, it would probably be the most hilarious thing I’ve heard all week,” said Neil Sroka, communications director for Democracy for America, a key group behind the “Run Warren Run” campaign.

His comment came after Politico reported unnamed administration officials hitting her opposition to the trade deal because it will “further energize the ‘Draft Warren’ movement that desperately wants her to run for president.”

President Obama has all but endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton’s bid to succeed him and many top aides have joined her campaign.

“I know it will shock the nameless administration officials worried that any delay in passing the job-killing TPP might hurt their post-White House shot at a sweet K Street payday, but progressive leaders stand up to the powerful and speak out for working families because it’s the right thing to do, not because of what they might get in return,” said Sroka.

“By standing up to the White House against Fast Track and the TPP, Senator Warren is demonstrating precisely the kind of fearless progressive leadership our country desperately needs and that’s why hundreds of thousands of Americans are calling on her to run for president, not the other way around,” he added.

Several top Democrats oppose the TPP and larger Trade Promotion Authority treaty fearing they lead to poor working conditions, crummy wages and a toxic environment. They, and key Republicans like Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, have also raised concerns that the treaties can be changed after passed in Congress.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].