Elizabeth Warren calls on Democrats to reject billionaire donors ahead of 2026 and 2028 elections
Warren agrees Democrats need to run most populist campaign since the Great Depression to win midterms
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., argued to CNN’s Dana Bash on Monday that Democrats’ path forward to electoral victory is ditching the donor class in favor of the American people.
Warren was interviewed about her speech earlier at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., where she said Democrats had to "credibly demonstrate" they could take on a "rigged system," which might mean upsetting the wealthy. In the address, she contrasted Democrats who will take on the fight head-on and those who "politely nibble around the edges of change."
"So, look, the Democrats need to build a bigger tent in order to win in 2026, 2028 and beyond. So the question is, how do we do that?" Warren told CNN. While she said he has not managed to follow through, she credited President Donald Trump for at least discerning that one of everyday Americans’ biggest priorities is wanting basic costs lowered.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren warned that it is no longer a winning tactic to appeal to billionaires, saying Democrats must appeal to working families. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"So Democrats have to hold Donald Trump accountable, but we have a real choice to make about how we‘re going to move forward on our agenda," Warren said. "We can either say we are all in for American families and lay out in concrete terms, ‘Here‘s how we‘re going to lower costs.’ Or, we can say, ‘We‘re going to moderate that, we‘re going to nibble around the edges in order to be more attractive to billionaire donors who might help fund Democratic campaigns.’"
Bash noted that some in the Democratic Party may see this as a losing tactic that ignores practical political realities. Warren acknowledged the desire to win but said it’s the donor class that needs to wake up to reality if they want Democrats to be victorious.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"No, what I want to do is win. I want to win in November of 2026," Warren said. "Read the room. If you’re looking at a room of anything other than very wealthy donors, what the American people are telling us over and over and over is ‘I‘m voting for the candidate who credibly says that they will lower costs for me.’ Look at what James Carville said. I don’t always agree with James Carville, but James Carville said it was clear even to him that Democrats need to run the most populist campaign since the Great Depression if we want to win in 2026."
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Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville has warned repeatedly that Democrats must abandon far-left cultural issues and focus on a more populist agenda. (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for SCAD)
Bash then asked her how she plans to win back more working-class Americans who supported her party in the past, but were alienated by some of the far-left cultural issues that dominated Democratic Party politics in recent years. Bash noted that uptight attitudes towards issues like using the "right pronouns" was one salient example, asking if Warren thinks the solution is not to discuss those issues.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"My view is, let’s put forward an agenda from Democrats that will really deliver for working families," she said. "Let’s get out there and talk credibly about what it is we are willing to fight for. Are we willing to fight to increase housing supply? Are we willing to fight to get corporations out of the business of buying up those houses in America, even if it annoys, irritates, pisses off a bunch of billionaire donors who are making money off the system as it is."
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. (Jacquelyn Martin, File/AP Photo)