Warren allies and former Obama administration officials trade barbs in report on their 'simmering bitterness'

Elizabeth Warren.
(Image credit: Charlie Neibergall/AP)

There remains a "simmering bitterness" between many former Obama administration officials and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), as described in a new Politico report containing some brutal quotes from both sides.

Former Obama administration officials in interviews with Politico go after Warren, who Obama in 2010 named special adviser to the Treasury secretary on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as a "professional critic," "sanctimonious,” and a "condescending narcissist." Warren has frequently been critical of former Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and White House National Economic Council chief Larry Summers, in particular.

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Meanwhile, people who worked with Warren at the time but don't serve on her 2020 campaign hit back, with one telling Politico, "Tim and Larry and those guys, they are the villains of the Woody Guthrie song,” a reference to the lyric "some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen." Another Warren ally mocked the former administration officials by saying, "Obama called the bankers fat cats once and spent seven years feeling bad about it."

Read the full report, which details a "far more combative relationship" between Warren and the Obama administration "than she usually discusses on the campaign trail," at Politico.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.