Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Monday night that she will be staying in the presidential race for now, even as it increasingly appeared to be shaping up as a two-person contest between Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Joe Biden.
Warren’s remarks came shortly after a Biden rally where three of his former rivals ― former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) ― announced their support of the former vice president.
The rally capped a remarkable couple of days for Biden, with Buttigieg dropping out on Sunday and Klobuchar on Monday. Biden has received a torrent of support from the Democratic establishment ― including from former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) ― which is trying to coalesce in order to beat Sanders.
But Warren made it clear she’s still in it ― at least through Super Tuesday. At a speech Monday night in Los Angeles, she took a shot at Biden and the endorsements he had received.
I also want to congratulate Joe Biden on his win in South Carolina. I respect his years of service. But no matter how many Washington insiders tell you to support him, nominating their fellow Washington insider will not meet this moment. Nominating a man who says we do not need any fundamental change in this country will not meet this moment. Nominating someone who wants to restore the world before Donald Trump, when the status quo has been leaving more and more people behind for decades, is a big risk for our party and our country.
Warren took issue with the notion that there are “only two lanes” to beat President Donald Trump, saying that “we find ourselves barreling toward another primary along the same lanes as 2016: one for an insider, one for an outsider.”
Warren tried to present herself as an alternative, as “someone with unshakeable values who can also get things done and bring all kinds of Democrats along with her. Voters deserve a choice of someone who can both do the work to transform our government from the inside and who can bring pressure to bear on government by leading a grassroots movement from the outside.”
Warren notably did not take a direct shot at Sanders, but in recent days she has been sharpening her criticisms of him.
“This crisis demands more than a senator who has good ideas but whose 30-year track record shows he consistently calls for things he fails to get done and consistently opposes things he nevertheless fails to stop,” Warren said in a speech in Houston on Saturday.
On Monday, Justice Democrats, a left-leaning political group, issued a statement criticizing Warren and putting some pressure on her to drop out.
“Senator Warren has been an ally of the progressive movement throughout her entire career. But I hope she stops attacking Senator Sanders and publicly commits to give her delegates to him if he has more votes to ensure a progressive wins the nomination,” Executive Director Alexandra Rojas said. “I’d say the same to Bernie. Pursuing the nomination through a contested convention without accumulating the most delegates would be harmful for our movement, our party and the policies she’s spent her life fighting for.”
Warren is trailing in the race for delegates, with just eight pledged delegates, compared with 60 for Sanders and 54 for Biden. But Super Tuesday is the big prize, with 1,357 delegates up for grabs. One challenge for Warren will be whether she can win her own state, where Sanders is also expected to do well.
Although Warren commented on the state of the race at the top of her remarks in Los Angeles, the rest of her speech Monday focused on the city’s Justice for Janitors movement in the 1980s. It’s one of a number of speeches that she’s given that focuses on a famous workers’ rights movement and women organizing for change.