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Elizabeth Warren Isn't Happy About Trump's Cabinet

by Jessicah Lahitou

It surprised many of her supporters when Sen. Warren announced, following Trump's election win, that she would be willing to work with him on economic policy. Joining her in offering an olive branch was Bernie Sanders, who insisted that not all Trump voters were racist, sexist, or bigoted, but rather many of them had been ignored by Democrats, and left out of the economy. Since Sanders and Warren are two of the most progressive elected politicos in Washington, their openness to Trump was not exactly a foreseeable move. But after learning of Trump's Cabinet picks, Warren has been employing her typical candor to criticize his choices.

Most recently, Warren went after Trump's pick for Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin. Calling him the "Forrest Gump of the financial crisis," Warren zeroed in on Mnuchin's previous work at Goldman Sachs (he eventually became a partner there), and allegations that his OneWest Bank used questionable tactics to force homeowners into foreclose. Mnuchin also came on board as Trump's campaign finance chair, following his New York primary win. All of which seems a pretty clear indicator that Trump's campaign promise to "Drain the Swamp" (his delightful metaphor for breaking the ties between D.C. and Wall Street by liquidating insiders) is dead in the water.

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Warren also took aim at Trump's pick for Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon. Appearing on Anderson Cooper's CNN show 360 Degrees on Wednesday, Warren called Bannon a "white supremacist." Cooper disagreed, pushing back by pointing out there is "no direct evidence" to prove Bannon himself believes in white supremacy. An exasperated Warren asked Cooper if he would at least go so far as to acknowledge that Bannon has "associated himself" with white supremacists. (Bannon is the former CEO of Breitbart News, a media outlet he has proudly described as the "platform for the 'alt-right,'" a group led by Richard Spencer. Spencer is a self-identified white nationalist. He has also advocated for "peaceful ethnic cleansing." Seriously.)

And on Trump's top choice for Attorney General, Elizabeth Warren took to the president-elect's favorite medium: Twitter. Responding to the nomination of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, Warren highlighted allegations of racism against Sessions, noting that his past actions had deprived him of previous government posts.

Trump still has several Cabinet posts to fill, including the critical positions of Defense Secretary and Secretary of State. If the pattern here holds, expect Sen. Warren to have plenty more to say on Trump's choices as they roll in over the next few weeks.