In a fawning softball interview with Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie spent the entire segment asking if the left-wing heroine was going to run for president, even to the point of suggesting Hillary Clinton wasn't liberal enough.
Guthrie began by providing Warren a gushing introduction: "She, of course, has taken on Wall Street and now some members of her own party are saying she should run for president against Hillary Clinton. One of her priorities in office is giving middle class families a fighting chance, which, by the way, is the title of her new memoir..."
Pressing Warren on a possible 2016 candidacy, Guthrie declared: "Now, you didn't think you'd get away with this interview without me asking you point blank, are you going to run for president?" Warren replied: "No. I'm not running and I'm not going to run."
Guthrie wasn't satisfied and followed up: "Let me make sure that we underscore this and maybe bold it and put it in all caps....are you unequivocally and categorically saying, 'I'm not running for president in 2016'?" Warren assured her: "I'm not running. I'm not running."
Still unwilling to let the matter drop, Guthrie pleaded with the liberal senator to think of her fans: "You care so much about these issues, your supporters say, 'Well, then you're the person – you're the perfect person to go in and fight for them and take them on.' They're afraid that Hillary Clinton won't give voice to these issues that you care about."
Warren seized the opportunity to promote her pet issues:
I see it as right this minute, we've got a lot of places that we need to be fighting on core issues. Like I said, student loans. I've got a student loan bill. It is obscene that the United States government is making a profit off the backs of our kids. And I'll tell you something, that's really personal for me. I'm somebody, my daddy ended up as a janitor. My mom worked a minimum wage job at Sears. The only way I got to go to college is because of a $50-a-semester commuter college. And that opened a million opportunities for me. It's something I talk about in the book and what it created for me. So, I ended up in the United States Senate. I want the same kinds of opportunities for our kids today. I want a world where every kid gets a fighting chance.
Guthrie again urged a presidential run:
This is something you obviously feel passionate about it. You came out of the private sector, came to Washington for this purpose. Because you care about those issues, I have to ask you whether you think Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee, presumably, in 2016, is she the right messenger for that? Do you think she will give a credible voice to these issues of whether the middle class is getting a fair shake?
Wrapping up the exchange, Guthrie acknowledged: "Possibly I'm beating a dead horse here, but did you ever even consider, entertain the possibility of running for president?" One more time, Warren said, "No."
Fellow co-host Matt Lauer joked about Warren's repeated denials: "I don't think she's running....it doesn't sound like there's any possibility. I'll be shocked if she runs."
While Guthrie wasted the entire interview hoping for Warren to make a 2016 announcement, she failed to ask a single challenging question. At no point did the Today co-host label Warren as liberal or suggest that she would too far to the left for voters in a general election.
In sharp contrast, one week earlier Lauer badgered Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on needing to move to the middle and back away from his conservative principles.
Here is a full transcript of Guthrie's March 31 interview with Warren:
8:21 AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Well, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren joins us now. She, of course, has taken on Wall Street and now some members of her own party are saying she should run for president against Hillary Clinton. One of her priorities in office is giving middle class families a fighting chance, which, by the way, is the title of her new memoir, which is actually out in paperback, that's what's new. Senator Warren, good morning, it's good to see you.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: It's good to see you.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Elizabeth Warren One-on-One; Senator on 2016 Race, HRC & New Book]
GUTHRIE: Now, you didn't think you'd get away with this interview without me asking you point blank, are you going to run for president?
WARREN: No. I'm not running and I'm not going to run. You know, I'm in Washington, I've got this really great job and a chance to try to make a difference on things that really matter. I think we need to lower the interest rate on student loans. I think we need to put more money into medical research. I think that we need to raise the minimum wage. Nobody should work full time and still live in poverty. I think we need to strengthen Social Security and expand its reach. There's a lot to fight over right this minute.
GUTHRIE: Let me make sure that we underscore this and maybe bold it and put it in all caps. Because I have to tell you, I have read every single interview you've done in the last year where people ask you, "Will you run for president?" And it had seemed that you were hedging a little bit in the past. I don't hear that now, are you unequivocally and categorically saying, "I'm not running for president in 2016"?
WARREN: I'm not running. I'm not running. You know, though, what I am doing is I'm out fighting for a set of issues that are powerfully important and it's a big part of why I wrote this book.
GUTHRIE: You care so much about these issues, your supporters say, "Well, then you're the person – you're the perfect person to go in and fight for them and take them on." They're afraid that Hillary Clinton won't give voice to these issues that you care about.
WARREN: I see it as right this minute, we've got a lot of places that we need to be fighting on core issues. Like I said, student loans. I've got a student loan bill. It is obscene that the United States government is making a profit off the backs of our kids. And I'll tell you something, that's really personal for me. I'm somebody, my daddy ended up as a janitor. My mom worked a minimum wage job at Sears. The only way I got to go to college is because of a $50-a-semester commuter college. And that opened a million opportunities for me. It's something I talk about in the book and what it created for me. So, I ended up in the United States Senate. I want the same kinds of opportunities for our kids today. I want a world where every kid gets a fighting chance.
GUTHRIE: This is something you obviously feel passionate about it. You came out of the private sector, came to Washington for this purpose. Because you care about those issues, I have to ask you whether you think Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee, presumably, in 2016, is she the right messenger for that? Do you think she will give a credible voice to these issues of whether the middle class is getting a fair shake?
WARREN: Well, I think we need to give her a chance to decide if she's going to run and to declare...
GUTHRIE: We know she's running. We know she's running.
WARREN: ...and to lay out what she wants to run on. I think that's her opportunity to do that. But this is really the point I think that everyone needs to be talking about in every race and every part of this country, about how it is that we build a future. Because right now Washington is working great for those who have money and power. It's working great for those who can hire armies of lobbyists and lawyers. It's just not working so great for the American people, for real families, and that's where we've got to make a change.
GUTHRIE: Possibly I'm beating a dead horse here, but did you ever even consider, entertain the possibility of running for president?
WARREN: No. Look, what I'm working on are the issues the people of Massachusetts sent me to work on. I told them during the campaign – I'd never run for office before – this really grows out of my lifetime's work. And as I talk about in the book, how it all evolved from both how I grew up and the early work I did on what was happening to America's middle class families and how they were just taking just one punch after another. And so, we end up with people across this country who work hard, who play by the rules, and who are barely making it paycheck to paycheck. That's in part because of choices that have been made in Washington. Choices that tilt the playing field in favor of those who have lobbyists. In favor of Fortune 500 companies, in favor of the biggest financial institutions, and against real people.
GUTHRIE: Well, Elizabeth Warren, it's always good to get your perspective. Thanks for answering the question. I guess we put the speculation to a rest this morning.
WARREN: It's good to see you.
GUTHRIE: Thank you very much. And once again the book is A Fighting Chance. Matt, we'll send it over to you.
MATT LAUER: Darius, I don't think she's running.
DARIUS RUCKER [SINGER]: Yeah, I don't think she's running either.
LAUER: No, it doesn't sound like there's any possibility. I'll be shocked if she runs.
RUCKER: Me, too.
