July 26, 2016

Elizabeth Warren Rips Donald Trump for Stoking “Fear and Hatred” in DNC Speech

The Massachusetts senator says the GOP nominee is “turning neighbor against neighbor.”

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has been one of the fiercest and most persistent critics of Donald Trump, and during her prime-time Democratic National Convention speech on Monday she continued her onslaught on the GOP nominee, blasting him for running a campaign of “fear and hatred” that is centered on stoking racial tensions.

Speaking ahead of Sen. Bernie Sanders, Warren was part of an opening night lineup that was intended to appeal to Sanders’ left-wing supporters, a group of fans who started off the night by booing mentions of Hillary Clinton and chanting for Bernie.

The anti-Hillary outcry was tempered over the course of the evening thanks to crowd-pleasing speeches from Sen. Cory Booker and Michelle Obama, and the convention audience was primed for a bit of Warren-style populism. She has earned a reputation in recent months for fiery speeches denouncing Trump, and she didn’t hold back in Philly, comparing him to a late-night infomercial salesman. “He’ll even throw in a goofy hat,” she quipped.

In her speech, Warren sternly warned that Trump is peddling a dangerous form of racial animus. “Trump thinks he can win votes by fanning the flames of fear and hatred. By turning neighbor against neighbor,” Warren said.

“That’s Donald Trump’s America,” she continued. “An America of fear and hate. An America where we all break apart. Whites against blacks and Latinos. Christians against Muslims and Jews. Straight against gay. Everyone against immigrants. Race, religion, heritage, gender—the more factions the better.” She linked that “divide and conquer” form of racist politics to Jim Crow laws.

The Massachusetts senator didn’t just focus on attacking Trump; she made sure to take some time to appease the Bernie crowd, kicking her speech off by thanking his campaign for reminding politicians of core Democratic values. And she made sure to note that she isn’t just a reflexive fall-in-line party Democrat. “I’m not someone who thinks Republicans are always wrong and Democrats are always right,” she said. “There’s enough blame to go around.” She was unequivocal about her support for Hillary Clinton, while stressing her support for policies popular among the Bernie crowd—opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, a desire to see Citizens United overturned, and debt-free college—and linking those to Clinton’s campaign. “Let’s work our hearts out to make sure Hillary Clinton is elected president of the United States,” she concluded.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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