WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Taking a big step toward jumping into what is expected to be a crowded Democratic field, Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has announced the launch of an exploratory committee for president.
Warren announced the launch of the committee in a video released Monday highlighting her hardscrabble childhood in Oklahoma as well as her efforts to help the middle class in the fight against billionaires and big corporations.
'America's middle class is under attack,' Warren states bluntly in the video. 'How did we get here? Billionaires and big corporations decided they wanted more of the pie, and they enlisted politicians to cut 'em a fatter slice.'
Warren accuses politicians of looking the other way while 'big insurance companies deny patients life-saving coverage, while big banks rip off consumers and while big oil companies destroy this planet.'
The Democratic Senator claims the government has become a tool for the wealthy and well-connected rather than working for all Americans.
'But this dark path doesn't have to be our future,' Warren says. 'We can make our democracy work for all of us. We can make our economy work for all of us. We can rebuild America's middle class - but this time, we gotta build it for everyone.'
'No matter where you live in America, and no matter where your family came from in the world, you deserve a path to opportunity,' she adds. 'Because no matter what our differences, most of us want the same thing: to be able to work hard, play by the same set of rules, and take care of the people we love.'
Warren declares that is the America she is fighting for and why she is launching an exploratory committee for president.
Launching the exploratory committee enables Warren to begin raising money for what is likely to be a tough campaign in the race to challenge President Donald Trump.
Warren's economic populism and criticism of Trump are likely to play well in the Democratic primary race, although early polls have shown the Senator trailing former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Congressman Beto O'Rourke, D-Tex., in the Iowa caucuses.
Earlier this year, Warren made headlines by releasing the results of a DNA test that support her claims of Native American ancestry, seeking to defuse frequent attacks by Trump.
The release of the test results, which came as Warren was running for re-election to a second term in the Senate, drew some backlash from tribal leaders.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2018 AFX News
