Elizabeth Warren has reportedly posed for 42,000 'selfies' on the campaign trail


Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) might not quite understand what a selfie is, but it doesn't seem to be affecting her supporters' enthusiasm.
GQ's Julia Ioffe, who followed the Democratic presidential candidate throughout the summer on some of her campaign stops, reports that Warren has taken somewhere around 42,000 pictures with people who attend her campaign events. When the events are over, the senator waits for every single person who wants a picture before she heads home. Sometimes it can take hours of her time, like when 3,000 people waited in line after an event in Chicago in June. When Warren senses it'll be a long one, she laces up her sneakers for maximum comfort; ultimately she describes the process as "energizing."
Warren's campaign has dubbed the phenomenon a selfie line, but that's technically inaccurate, since in reality one of her staffers takes the pictures of Warren and the potential voter. An actual selfie would require either Warren or the other person in the frame to actually snap the shot, but life goes on.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Dictionary debates aside, the number of people who line up to pose with Warren could be viewed as an unscientific measure of the growing number of fans she has accrued since launching her campaign. The GQ article specifically takes a look at some of her efforts in the Midwest, including states like Wisconsin and Michigan where Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign failed to resonate. Ioffe highlights two Teamsters in Milwaukee, whom she describes as members of the "elusive and coveted white working class," one of whom described Warren as more electable than the other Democratic frontrunners, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Read the full profile at GQ.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
News organizations reject Pentagon restrictions
Speed Read The proposed policy is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s latest move to limit press access at the Pentagon
-
Trump declares end to Gaza war, ‘dawn’ of new Mideast
Speed Read Hamas freed the final 20 living Israeli hostages and Israel released thousands of Palestinian detainees
-
Trump DOJ indicts New York AG Letitia James
Speed Read New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted as Trump’s Justice Department pursues charges against his political opponents
-
Judge blocks Trump’s Guard deployment in Chicago
Speed Read The president is temporarily blocked from federalizing the Illinois National Guard or deploying any Guard units in the state
-
Trump urges jail for Illinois, Chicago leaders
Speed Read The Texas National Guard begin operations in the Chicago area
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland