Sen. Elizabeth Warren talks a big game about having uncomfortable conversations about hard truths. But when it comes time to put up or shut up, the 2020 Democratic candidate usually opts for the latter.
Indeed, Warren is actually kind of a big coward on difficult questions, as when she was asked Wednesday evening at a primary debate in Atlanta whether pro-lifers have any place in the modern Democratic Party.
“Just this weekend,” said debate moderator Rachel Maddow, “Louisiana reelected a Democratic governor, John Bel Edwards. He has signed one of the country’s toughest laws restricting abortion.”
The MSNBC host added, “Is there room in the Democratic Party for someone like him, someone who can win in a deep red state but who does not support abortion rights?”
She dissembled.
“Look, I believe that abortion rights are human rights. I believe that they are also economic rights,” said the Massachusetts senator. “And protecting the right of a woman to be able to make decisions about her own body is fundamentally what we do and what we stand for as a Democratic Party.”
She continued, “Understand this. When someone makes abortion illegal in America, rich women will still get abortions. It’s just going to fall hard on poor women. It’s going to fall hard on girls, women who don’t even know that they’re pregnant because they have been molested by an uncle. I want to be an America where everybody has a chance.”
Okay, but what about the question? Remember that? Are pro-life Democrats welcome?
“I know it can be a hard decision for people,” Warren continued. “But here’s the thing. When it comes down to that decision, a woman should be able to call on her mother, she should be able to call on her partner, she should be able to call on her priest or her rabbi. But the one entity that should not be in the middle of that decision is the government.”
Still more babbling. But to Maddow’s great credit, she wasn’t having it.
“Senator Warren, I need to push you on this a little bit for a specific answer to the question. Governor John Bel Edwards in Louisiana is an anti-abortion governor who has signed abortion restrictions in Louisiana. Is there room for him in the Democratic Party with those politics?”
Warren responded with yet another non-answer: “I have made clear what I think the Democratic Party stands for. I’m not here to try to drive anyone out of this party. I’m not here to try to build fences. But I am here to say, this is what I will fight for as president of the United States. The women of America can count on that.”
Despite her best efforts to say nothing at all, Warren has given away the game. She is a duplicitous coward, willing to say what she really believes but only when it poses no risk to her political ambitions.
