Elizabeth Warren Talks About ‘Crypto Billionaires’, Labels Trump a Fascist, Arms Embargo Against Israel, and More

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Senator Elizabeth Warren appears well positioned to defeat Republican John Deaton and win a third term in the US Senate.

Since taking office in 2013, Senator Elizabeth Warren has become one of the country’s best-known progressive lawmakers. Six years ago, she won a second term by easily defeating an ally of Donald Trump. Warren tried to capitalize on this momentum by launching a bid for the White House in 2020, but was forced to withdraw amid a crowded primary field. This election season, Warren is pulling double duty as a key surrogate for Vice President Kamala Harris, even as she competes with Republican John Deaton for her Senate seat.

Deaton, a personal injury lawyer and outspoken advocate for the cryptocurrency industry, has tried to position himself as a moderate who is not beholden to Trump. Polls show he is facing an uphill battle and Warren has a commanding lead heading into Election Day.

Last week, Boston.com spoke with Senator Warren to discuss Deaton, what she learned from her presidential campaign, the danger she believes Trump poses to the country, and more.

The following interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Boston.com: We recently saw John Deaton get the endorsement of two very different billionaires: Elon Musk and Mark Cuban. Musk is campaigning for former President Trump, while Cuban is a strong supporter of Vice President Harris. What is your reaction to these two statements of support from your opponent?

Elizabeth Warren: Elon Musk is working with Donald Trump to try to take over our government, the White House and Congress. Apparently Elon Musk sees John Deaton as part of that plan. Other crypto billionaires have joined Deaton in hopes of unseating me from this Senate seat so they don’t have to deal with my calls for some basic crypto security regulations.

John Deaton has repeatedly spoken about the importance of term limits and has criticized you, saying that you spend more time in Washington than in Massachusetts and that you are a political insider. You came to power more than ten years ago. How are you different today than then?

Elizabeth Warren: We do have a term, they are called elections. Every six years, senators must go back to the people who elected them and explain what they have done and what they hope to do if re-elected. It’s the honor of a lifetime, so fight on behalf of the people of Massachusetts in Washington.

I’ve done a lot, including bringing more than $20 billion to Massachusetts for infrastructure, climate and science spending over the past few years. I’ve gotten $35 insulin, a $2,000 cap on seniors’ out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs, and helped get rid of a lot of junk costs.

If the people of Massachusetts send me back to Washington, I will fight to make Roe v. Wade the law of the land, which requires a Democratic majority. I will also fight for voting rights and pass the PRO Act so that anyone who wants to join a union can do so. And I will focus my energy on universal child care and a major federal investment in housing so that we can expand our housing stock here in Massachusetts and lower costs for first-time homebuyers, seniors, veterans, and others who need housing.

Looking back on your career, what lessons did you learn from your 2020 presidential bid?

Elizabeth Warren: Speaking of policy matters. I can give you some very specific examples, but here is one in particular. When I ran for president, I knew it was a gamble, but I also knew that every day I entered the race I could fight for the things I believe in. One of the ideas I emphasized was a minimum of 15%. taxes on billionaire companies like Amazon, which essentially pay nothing in federal income taxes. People told me it was just a pipe dream and that Congress would never do something like that. But I fought for it every day.

After the race was over, the primaries were over, I kept talking about it with other senators so that when the proposal was on the table in 2022 for the largest climate package in the history of the world, it couldn’t move forward without a way to pay. I raised my 15% minimum tax as the possible way to pay for it, and every other senator agreed, and that minimum corporate tax is now law. It pays for climate infrastructure and new construction, electric school buses and solar panels across our Commonwealth and across the country. Ideas are important.

Every day we see more horrific news from the Middle East, from Gaza, from Lebanon. It seems quite clear that the US has failed to govern Prime Minister Netanyahu. Should the US seriously consider an arms embargo on Israel?

Elizabeth Warren: Yes. In fact, the federal government recently announced that if Israel did not change its practices in Gaza, it would end all arms shipments. I wholeheartedly support that.

Vice President Harris recently said she believes Trump is a fascist. Would you use that term to describe him?

Elizabeth Warren: I listen to the people who worked most closely with Trump, including his chief of staff. They make it clear that Trump wants to be a dictator. Trump himself has said he wants to be a dictator, and has admired Hitler’s generals for their unconditional loyalty. When someone like Donald Trump tells us who he is, we should believe him.

The editorial board of The New York Times just put out a piece that makes essentially the same argument, which is that we should believe him.

Elizabeth Warren: Yes, believe him! I think this is exactly the right way to understand this. It’s shocking for people to hear that, but it’s Trump who is presenting us with the evidence. We need to understand how dangerous this man is.

What are your thoughts on Question 1 in Massachusetts, which would pave the way for legislative scrutiny?

Elizabeth Warren: Yes. I’m a yes to question 1.

And you also favor Question 2, which would eliminate the MCAS as a high school graduation requirement, correct?

Elizabeth Warren: I am. I should add that I say yes to question 2 in part because I was a special education teacher and I learned early on that one type of test is not the only measure of our children’s performance. I listen to teachers in classrooms, and they tell me about the damage of repeatedly focusing on one test so that a handful of kids are pulled out of the classroom and told repeatedly that they are failures, while everyone else is a success. . I think we should listen to the teachers who helped us build the best education system in the world, and who tell us that MCAS testing alone doesn’t help, it hurts the education system.