Shortly after the liberal group Run Warren Run announced the end of its effort to draft Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) into the Democratic presidential primary in early June, the organization threw its support behind Vermont senator Bernie Sanders. Now, in a new interview with the Boston Herald, Warren herself has plugged Sanders, the ultra-liberal candidate who has become an increasing threat to Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton in recent weeks.
“Bernie’s out talking about the issues that the American people want to hear about,” Warren told the Herald on Monday. “These are people who care about these issues, and that’s who Bernie’s reaching. I love what Bernie is talking about. I think all the presidential candidates should be out talking about the big issues.”
Warren, who was once viewed as a probable Democratic presidential candidate and formidable threat to Clinton, confirmed on multiple occasions that she would not run for president in 2016 despite the chorus of prominent progressives urging her to jump into the race.
The Massachusetts senator has yet to formally endorse one of the four officially declared candidates for the Democratic nomination. When asked if she would be campaigning with Sanders in the future, Warren said it’s “too early to say.”
Since launching his campaign in May, Sanders has soared in the polls. A CNN/WMUR New Hampshire primary poll released last week has the Vermont senator trailing front-runner Hillary Clinton in the early-voting Granite State by a mere eight percentage points.
#related#A growing number of Democratic voters view Sanders as a strong alternative to the former Secretary of State, who has been plagued in recent months by scandals involving her use of a private e-mail account while at Foggy Bottom and the lack of transparency at the Clinton Foundation. Over the past few weeks, Sanders has had to move numerous campaign events to larger venues due to the increasing number of people coming out to hear him speak.
Although Warren wouldn’t say if she is being courted to support any of the Democratic presidential candidates, several attribute Sanders’s recent surge in the polls to the backing of Run Warren Run. When asked about Sanders’s rise in popularity following her supporters’ endorsement, Warren remained coy on the topic.
She also demurred when asked if she thought Sanders could actually win, saying only that, “Bernie is there on the issues. That’s what matters to a lot of people.”
— Julia Porterfield is an intern at National Review, editor-in-chief of Red Millennial, and a junior at Regent University.