Politics

In late night appearance, Warren continues to dig in against Vance

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has worked on bipartisan legislation with Sen. JD Vance in the past, has publicly criticized Trump's running mate twice in two days.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images

July 17, 2024

During a late night talk show appearance Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren kept up her assault on Sen. JD Vance, Donald Trump’s pick for running mate.

“He is now Donald Trump doubled,” Warren said during an interview with Stephen Colbert.

The two briefly spoke about Vance’s history as a vocal critic of Trump who pivoted to becoming one of the former president’s most devout supporters. In 2016, Vance compared Trump to “cultural heroin,” declared himself a “Never Trump” guy, and reportedly speculated that he could be “America’s Hitler.”

Warren did not speculate as to what caused Vance’s shift over the years, but said that, in some cases, he is now Trump “only more so.”

She railed on Vance for being opposed to any exceptions on abortion bans, even for rape or incest. Warren said that Vance supports cutting funding to Social Security and Medicare, wants to get repeal the Affordable Care Act, and is “all in” on tax cuts that would benefit billionaires.

The Biden campaign appears to have deployed Warren as a surrogate with the task of targeting Vance. Immediately after Trump’s announcement Monday, she was the only elected official to join a press call that centered on Vance.

Vance and Warren actually teamed up on bipartisan legislation last year meant to claw back executive compensation at large failed banks. Politico dubbed them the “new power couple taking on Wall Street,” and Warren said at the time that he was “terrific to work with.”

Colbert brought that history up during his interview, citing the Politico article directly.

“I will work with anyone who wants to rein in the giant banks,” Warren said in response.

Colbert also asked her about recent reports in The Wall Street Journal that Elon Musk is planning to commit about $45 million a month to a super PAC backing Trump.

Musk’s donations and his control over discourse happening on X represent a serious threat to the country, Warren said.

“This is a lot of power to concentrate with one person,” she told Colbert.

Watch the full clip below: