Elizabeth Warren has responded to the new attack ad from Karl Rove’s group, Crossroads GPS, which linked her to all manner of alleged depravity and radicalism at the Occupy Wall Street protests.
In an interview with the local ABC affiliate in Boston, Warren was asked whether it was fair to link her so closely to the protests — and in response Warren did not back down.
“It’s fair to say that I’ve been protesting Wall Street for years and years,” Warren said. “I went to Washington in part to try to stop the bank bailout from giving away money, no strings attached. I’ve gone toe to toe with some of the CEOs of the largest Wall Street financial firms. I’ve even [fought] with people in our government about how they treat the biggest firms. So, yeah, I’ve been fighting Wall Street for a very long time.”
She also added: “I’m glad to see lots of people start to really push on this issue.”
Warren was then asked whether she agreed with all the mission, philosophy and tactics of the protests. Warren’s answer:
Let’s be clear. Everybody has to follow the law. There’s no exception on that. More important, though, this is an independent, organic movement. It’s its own voice. It will go in its own direction. We don’t speak with a unitary voice anywhere about what needs to be changed. There are lots of people, lots of voices — whether they’ve taken to the streets, whether they’re sitting at home saying, ‘this doesn’t work anymore.’
We need a lot of voices saying, we’ve got to have change. Because it’s clear: Washington’s not looking to change on its own. And Wall Street is going to keep pumping money into Washington, pumping it into elections, to make sure that their way is the dominant way in this country. I think that’s wrong.
(Hat tip to Greg Sargent.)
