Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren accused Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans of “making hate okay” as she campaigned for Hillary Clinton on Saturday.
“We’re here to say hate is not okay,” Warren told a crowd of roughly 500 volunteers packed inside a New Hampshire campaign office. “We build a stronger America together, that’s what this is about.”
Warren is making three stops across New Hampshire, a battleground presidential state and home to one of the top Senate races in the country, a contest between incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte and Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan. Warren is tying Ayotte and the rest of the Republican field to Trump as she works to fire up her party six weeks before the Nov. 8 general election. Hundreds of volunteers from New Hampshire and Massachusetts lined up to see Warren, a favorite of the party’s liberal wing.
A frequent and biting critic of Trump, Warren said she never predicted a major presidential candidate would base a campaign on scapegoating Mexicans, women and Muslims.
“What Donald Trump is doing is not what any of us thought a man who’s running for president would do,” she said. “He’s found something much uglier that he wants to make the basis of his campaign.”
Warren was particularly critical of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who said he’d vote for Trump after denouncing him in the primary campaign.
“Is that really what your word is worth, Ted Cruz?” she asked.
During a later stop with Hassan at the University of New Hampshire, Warren took aim at Ayotte’s voting record and her continued support for Trump.
“Trump attacks Kelly Ayotte, and calls her weak, and Kelly sticks with him,” Warren said, referencing comments Trump made in August claiming he was beating Ayotte in the polls. “If Kelly Ayotte doesn’t have the backbone to stand up to Donald Trump, I guarantee she doesn’t have the backbone to stand up for New Hampshire families.”
In a statement, Ayotte’s campaign didn’t respond directly to the charges.
“Kelly has shown repeatedly that she’s the only candidate in this race who will stand up to do what’s right for New Hampshire, regardless of who is in the White House, unlike Gov. Hassan who will be a rubberstamp for Hillary Clinton and Washington Democrats.”