Warren pushes immigration reform, tax on super wealthy at Tempe rally
Aug 1, 2019, 10:17 PM | Updated: Aug 2, 2019, 7:02 am
Elizabeth Warren talked climate change, minimum wage, her life story in first campaign appearance in Arizona on Thursday. (Peter Samore/KTAR News)
(Peter Samore/KTAR News)
TEMPE — Reforming immigration laws and fighting corruption in Washington, D.C., were top of mind for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) during her first campaign visit to Arizona on Thursday night.
Warren is one of 20 Democratic candidates running for president.
“Immigration does not make America weaker,” Warren told an overflowing crowd of about 3,500 at Tempe’s Marquee Theatre. “Immigration makes America stronger.”
Warren also blasted the Trump Administration’s current handling of hundreds of thousands of Central American migrants that have been crossing the southern border with Mexico over the past year.
“That’s keeping people separated for months, for years,” Warren said. “That does not make us stronger. That does not promote our economy. And it is not consistent with our values.”
Warren also called for a “wealth tax” of two cents for every dollar an individual earns over $50 million in a year.
.@ewarren: Our government works well… for the wrong people. @KTAR923 pic.twitter.com/vr4pbw0eHG
— Peter Samore (@ktarpetersamore) August 2, 2019
Practically everyone at the rally had made up their minds about Warren for president.
Josh Thompson had no doubt Warren could push through the crowded primary field.
“As people continue to fade out from lack of fundraising and lack of popularity, I think they’re going to settle on a candidate like Elizabeth who’s got strong policy ideas,” the Phoenix resident said.
Robin Johnson, also from Phoenix, likes Warren’s charisma, which is something she says Joe Biden — the former vice president and frontrunner among Democratic candidates — lacks.
“He doesn’t have that passion, and to be honest, I think he’s too old,” she said.
“And then he said ‘Joe 3030.’ I think he means ‘Joe 2020.'”
Johnson referred to Biden’s gaff during Wednesday’s debate among other Democrats in Detroit.
Biden turns 77 in November. Warren turned 70 in June.
Warren called for an end to corruption in Washington, which she says began 25 years ago.
.@ewarren says she has plans to end corruption in Washington, which she says started 25 years ago. That’s when @BillClinton was president. @KTAR923 pic.twitter.com/GGNze0e9nA
— Peter Samore (@ktarpetersamore) August 2, 2019
Fellow Democrat Bill Clinton happened to be president during that time.
