Warren's campaign says she 'took heat' during debate because she's ahead in the polls


Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass.) campaign knows exactly why several of her fellow 2020 Democratic presidential candidates went after her during Tuesday's debate.
Warren has "built momentum by running a campaign of substance, identifying problems facing the country, and laying out her plans for big structural change to fix them," spokeswoman Kristen Orthman told CNN. "She took heat tonight as a result of that momentum, but she stayed focused on what's broken and how she plans to fix it with a government and an economy that works for the people. That's how Elizabeth will win the nomination, beat Donald Trump, and make big, structural change."
A frontrunner in many polls, Warren was targeted by, among other candidates, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who said she had "no plan" for how to pay for Medicare-for-all, and former Vice President Joe Biden, who was not happy that Warren wouldn't give him credit for helping get votes for her Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Subscribe to 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.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Trump vows to lift Syria sanctions
speed read The move would help the new government stabilize the country following years of civil war
-
Senate rejects Trump's Library of Congress takeover
speed read Congress resisted the president's attempts to control 'the legislative branch's premier research body'
-
Hamas frees US hostage in deal sidelining Israel
speed read Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier, was the final living US citizen held by the militant group
-
White Afrikaners land in US as Trump-declared refugees
speed read An exception was made to Trump's near-total ban on admitting refugees for the white South Africans
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs