Warren pulled no punches during exchanges with Bloomberg in particular.
February 20, 2020, 4:12 PM
4 min read
On the heels of a fiery debate Wednesday night in Nevada, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren appeared on ABC’s The View, as she and her fellow 2020 contenders recollect themselves the morning after the flying verbal volleys on stage.
Many of those shots came from Warren - and Thursday on The View Warren addressed her feisty performance - going after former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who in turn had testy moments between each other.
Her immediate jab at Bloomberg over how he allegedly has treated women in his employ set the tone for the entire debate, and coming off disappointing finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, it was clear that Warren viewed Wednesday’s debate as a make or break moment for her campaign.
“I'd like to talk about who we're running against. A billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians, and no I'm not talking about Donald Trump, I'm talking about Mayor Bloomberg,” Warren said during the debate to audible gasps in the debate hall, alluding to the slew of recent stories on the mistreatment of women in the workplace at Bloomberg’s companies.
Democratic presidential candidates former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Sen. Elizabeth Warren speak during the Democratic presidential primary debate at Paris Theater in Las Vegas, Feb. 19, 2020.
Democratic presidential candidates former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Sen. Elizabeth Warren speak during the Democratic presidential primary debate at Paris Theater in Las Vegas, Feb. 19, 2020.Mario Tama/Getty Images
"I've been told to sit down and be quiet enough in my life," Warren said of her performance adding that she felt she had a job to do last night.
Part of that job, she said, was to shed light on Bloomberg's records when it comes to women.
"The American people are not going to take kindly" to his comments, she said adding that she feels he is a "risky candidate" to choose... "we need someone with rock solid values who has a history of getting change done. And who knows how to find. That's why I'm in this race."
Warren hit Bloomberg again on his lack of transparency and the danger that might pose to the Democratic party's bid against Trump.
"The Democrats should not appoint someone who has a history of embracing racially outrageous practices like stop and frisk and redlining," she told the show's hosts and added that she doesn't feel the party should nominate someone who has "been charged with discrimination against women, or with sexual harassment. And it's just shoveled some of his money to cover it up."
Her pointed line of attack comes as Warren herself battles a slide from the top of the Democratic pack, limping out of the first two early state contests: a third place finish in Iowa, fourth in New Hampshire. Now, however, Warren has made it clear - she's ready for a fresh fight.
She'll need it too - a strong showing at the Nevada caucuses this weekend would help to reestablish her campaign and reengage her in the front-runner fray.
In what marks a complete shift from her debate strategy to this point, Warren consistently and aggressively attacked her rivals on topic after topic.
She also called her rivals out on health care - one of her signature issues - reducing Buttigieg's plan to a "slogan" and a "powerpoint," and Klobuchar's even further - a post-it note.
In a sign that her performance may have resonated, at least with her supporters, Warren had the best fundraising hour of her entire campaign during the debate, including $425,000 raised in just half an hour at one point. Her campaign tweeted that they raised $2.8 million from tonight's debate.
