Elizabeth Warren Talks Taxing Amazon, Julián Castro, And Donald Trump

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren sat down with People en Español and People CHICA digital executive editor Shirley Velasquez on Tuesday for a discussion about her campaign and what she hopes to achieve if she wins the Democratic nomination. Shortly before the interview, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro, who last week suspended his own campaign, announced his endorsement of Senator Warren. “I cannot tell you how pleased I am,” the Massachusetts senator said of Castro's endorsement. Julián Castro is just a remarkable man. I worked with him back when he was secretary at HUD, working in the Obama administration, and when I had first started out in the Senate, we had a lot of issues that overlapped around families and the need for safe and affordable and secure housing. But also, we'd have lunch. We'd talk about all of the issues, about opportunity in America, and how if the government made just a few investments in the right places we could really expand opportunity - not just for those at the top - but we could really expand opportunity for all of our people, for all of our children.”

Senator Warren also discussed the importance of diversity in America, even as voters have become more and more polarized. "I believe that our real potential strength as a country is our differences, and I mean that in every sense," said Warren. “Immigration does not make us weaker, it makes us stronger. The fact that we hear voices from men and from women, that we hear voices from young people and from seniors, that we hear the voices of people who come from a wide variety of backgrounds and that they contribute to the kind of America in which everybody gets heard and everybody gets a shot, everybody gets a chance. Everybody gets a chance at a first-rate education, everybody gets a chance to build some economic security, everybody gets a chance to take care of themselves and the people they love - that's the America we can build together.”

Warren criticized Donald Trump's divisive approach to politics, and noted that his ability to sow discord between Americans makes it easier for him to distract from larger issues. "Donald Trump wants to turn people against people," said Warren. “He wants to turn white against black and brown, he wants to turn Christian against Muslim and Jew. He wants to turn straight against gay and trans, particularly. He wants to turn everyone against immigrants. And the reason for that is that he seems to believe that as long as we're all fighting each other, then nobody will notice that Donald Trump and his corrupt buddies are stealing both our wealth and our dignity as a nation.”

Warren, born and raised in Oklahoma, said her family “didn't have much,” and she wants to make sure that other Americans receive the same opportunities that she did. That will involve making sure that everyone pays their "fair share," including corporations like Amazon. "I was just with my brothers a couple of weeks ago and we started talking about Amazon," Warren recalled. “Not about getting your coffee maker delivered but about the fact that last year Amazon made over together and say, 'You know, that's just not fair.' Somebody's gotta pay to keep this country going. Somebody's gotta keep the roads and bridges paved. Somebody's gotta keep our schools open. Somebody's gotta pay for our defense. They pay their taxes. They don't think it's right that the loopholes exist that the guys at the very tip top don't have to pay their fair share. And why wouldn't they have to? The answer is just corruption.”

Watch our full interview with Senator Warren at the top of this post.