Warren calls Obama’s message out of touch with everyday Americans

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., criticized former President Barack Obama for supposedly running into a common dilemma that afflicts politicians of both parties — losing touch with the average American.

Warren delivered her critique during an interview with the Guardian, published Monday, in which she assessed what went wrong for the Democratic Party in the 2016 election. She said that regular people feel alienated when Obama talks about how wonderful the economy is doing when this does not correspond with their daily lives.

“I think President Obama, like many others in both parties, talks about a set of big national statistics that look shiny and great but increasingly have giant blind spots,” she said. “That GDP, unemployment, no longer reflect the lived experiences of most Americans. And the lived experiences of most Americans is that they are being left behind in this economy. Worse than being left behind, they’re getting kicked in the teeth.”

Warren made headlines last week when she acknowledged being irritated by Obama’s decision to accept $400,000 from investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald for speaking at an upcoming health care conference.

Elizabeth Warren: I'm 'troubled' by Obama's $400,000 Wall Street speaking fee

Senator Elizabeth Warren upset over Obama's Wall Street speaking fee.

“Well, I was troubled by that,” Warren said on SiriusXM’s “Radio Andy.”

Like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who also lamented Obama’s choice, Warren has been outspoken about what she considers the corrupting influence of Wall Street money on American democracy.

Speculation that Warren might be preparing for a White House bid have been brewing while she makes the rounds promoting her new book, “This Fight Is Our Fight.” President Trump suggested that Warren might be his Democratic competition in the next presidential election on Friday, using his racially charged insult for Warren, “Pocahontas.”

“You’ll have plenty of those Democrats coming over, and you’re going to say, ‘No, sir — no, thank you,’” Trump said at a National Rifle Association convention. “‘No, ma’am’ — perhaps ‘no, ma’am.’ It may be Pocahontas, remember that. And she is not big for the NRA, that I can tell you.”

Read More (...)