Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) flipped her lid during an interview with CNBC anchor Sara Eisen after she compared her previous outspokenness on the Federal Reserve to that of President Donald Trump. During a segment on “Squawk on the Street,” Eisen pointed out that Warren has been “very outspoken” on “what the Fed should be doing.”
Both Warren and Trump have issued calls for the central bank, along with its chair, Jerome Powell, to cut interest rates in recent years. Eisen then referenced Warren supporting the appointments of former Fed Chair Janet Yellen and former Vice Chair Lael Brainard, whom she said she aligns with on policy. The anchor then made the comparison between the Massachusetts Democrat and the president, who has made it clear she’s no fan of Trump.
“This isn’t that different, with the president expressing what he wants in terms of policy and who he wants [to lead the Fed],” the anchor commented. Warren, clearly not happy with the comparison, scoffed and replied, “I’m sorry, is that real? It is not different to just say, ‘Here’s my opinion and here’s how I read the numbers and here’s who I think has a good track record?’”
According to The Hill, the liberal lawmaker then said, “You think that’s the same as being the president of the United States and employing the Department of Justice to bring criminal charges against someone, of sending a notice that they have been fired?” Warren’s comment was a reference to U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro’s investigation into Powell and the president’s attempt to oust Lisa Cook from the Fed’s board of governors over allegations of mortgage fraud.
The probe into Powell concerns cost overruns of the renovations of two historic Fed buildings, according to information released by Pirro’s office. However, Powell stated in January that the investigation was really just a show of force by President Trump in an attempt to push him into cutting interest rates. Warren agreed with Powell’s assessment and slammed the president for “trying to control” the Federal Reserve.
“What he’s also trying to do is to control the Fed by terrifying all of them,” she remarked during the interview. Eisen then asked her why she didn’t ask Trump’s nominee to succeed Powell, Kevin Warsh, about the investigation during his nomination hearing before the Senate Banking Committee. During the hearing, Warren butted heads with Warsh about his financial disclosures and his independence from Trump.
It was Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) who asked about the probe into Powell and the president’s attempt to boot Cook. On both matters, Warsh stated that he would not provide comment and pledged to submit to the courts. Warren said she didn’t ask about the probe during the hearing because she asked Warsh about it in a meeting in her office before the hearing. She claimed he gave the same response.
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“I could’ve spent 45 seconds having him say the same thing again, but he told every one of us the same thing: ‘You’ll get no comment from me on that.’ Because that’s what Kevin Warsh is doing, exactly what you’d expect a sock puppet to do,” Warren said, her frustration obvious. Eisen then pointed out that Warsh said he disagreed with Trump and that he was out of “central casting.” Warren replied, “Yeah, that was really adorable.”