Elizabeth Warren refused to give Joe Biden credit for helping her create the CFPB

Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders.

(Image credit: Screenshot/CNN)

published 16 October 2019

Former Vice President Joe Biden wanted some credit, but Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) didn't bite.

Biden who was perhaps a bit fired up over the implication that he wasn't thinking boldly enough during his presidential, turned to Warren during the Democratic primary debate on Tuesday evening to explain how, when he was vice president, he helped get votes for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a government agency Warren first proposed when she was a Harvard Law School professor.

"I got votes for that bill," Biden said. "I convinced people to vote for it. So let's get those things straight too."

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In her response, Warren did express her deep gratitude — to former President Barack Obama. That drew a laugh from both the audience and even Biden himself. Warren did then go on to thank everyone who helped fight for the CFPB, though she still never singled out Biden.

As for who deserves credit for the CFPB? Well, Obama's former senior adviser David Axelrod said it belongs to the senator. Tim O'Donnell

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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.