Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said she thinks former President Trump is “really afraid” of Vice President Harris, as questions remain about whether the two presidential candidates will face off in a televised debate.
“I think Trump is really afraid of Kamala Harris,” Warren told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki in an interview Monday. “Or, as I like to think of it, the felon is really afraid of the prosecutor — and for damn good reason.”
Warren hit home on a point Democrats reiterated throughout last week’s Democratic National Convention. The Massachusetts senator and other Democrats sought to contrast the former president’s status as a felon, after his New York hush money trial conviction in May, with Harris’s background in prosecuting.
The Massachusetts Democrat, who ran an unsuccessful primary bid against the vice president and President Biden in 2020, called Harris smart, disciplined and “not afraid of a bully.”
“Donald Trump is scared, and I gotta say, I think his whole team is scared. And that’s why they’re trying to find ways to muzzle him, to make this debate not happen, if possible, because Kamala Harris, she’s gonna wipe the floor with Donald Trump,” she told Psaki.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump appeared to respond to Warren’s comments, while also bashing his Democratic rival’s record in the Senate.
“Think of it, America, Pocahontas, sometimes referred to as Elizabeth Warren, is considered far more Conservative in the U.S. Senate than Comrade Kamala Harris ever was,” he said. “Is this really what we want to be President of the United States?”
“She will only bring us Poverty, Chaos, and Heartache! Kamala is rated, by far, the Number One Most Liberal Senator,” he said.
Warrens comments come as there is doubt about whether a debate will happen.
Trump had agreed to two debates with Biden before the incumbent suspended his reelection campaign and Harris emerged as the Democratic Party’s candidate. He initially withdrew from the Sept. 10 ABC News debate but later agreed to attend.
The GOP nominee pushed for additional debates on Fox News and NBC News, but Harris’s campaign said it would see how the first debate went before agreeing to others. Earlier this month, the team said it planned to participate in two presidential and one vice presidential debate, between their respective running mates Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D).
Harris’s campaign also began pushing for microphones not to be muted during the ABC News debate, breaking from the tactic used in the Biden-Trump debate.
The former president said Monday it didn’t matter to him whether the microphones were muted. He further criticized ABC, the host and raised questions about if he will debate at all.
Some Republicans say he can’t afford to skip the debate, since the vice president is gaining ground in the polls. Like Warren, many Democrats have suggested it shows he’s scared to take her on.
“Pocahontas Elizabeth Warren is a proven liar and fraud and simply can’t be trusted,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement. “She lied about her ethnic heritage, [she] lied about her policies, and now she continues to lie about anyone and everything.”
Updated at 11:44 a.m. EDT