CBS This Morning on Wednesday finally committed journalism and covered the latest example of Elizabeth Warren being forced to confront contradictory facts about her background. This time, it’s claims that she was fired from a teaching job in 1971 because she was pregnant. After ignoring claims highlighted by The Washington Free Beacon on Monday, This Morning’s Tony Dokoupil observed, “A series of reports have questioned the story she's been telling it on the campaign trail.”
Reporter Ed O’Keefe even brought up Warren’s past lies about being a Native American: “Questions of the legitimacy of the story stem in part from claims she's made in the past about her heritage.” O’Keefe played clips of the 2020 Democrat repeating her assertion she was fired for being pregnant: “The principal did what principals did in those days, wished me luck and hired someone else for the job.”
He added, “But some have questioned her version of the events pointing to a 2007 interview where he gave a different reason for why she left.” O’Keefe explained how this doesn’t mesh with the facts:
ELIZABETH WARREN: I actually didn't have the education courses. So I was on an emergency certificate, it was called. I went back to graduate school and took a couple of courses in education and said, “I don't think this is going to work out for me.”
ED O’KEEFE: And minutes from school board meetings show Warren's resignation was accepted with regret.
He also allowed Warren to get away with blithely dismissing the contradictions: “It doesn't matter much what the term is. Let's be clear, I was six months pregnant.” However, Credit to O’Keefe for reminding: “Questions about her employment history come after years of scrutiny over her claims of Native American ancestry which she apologized for over the summer.”
A transcript of the segment is below. Click “expand” to read more:
CBS This Morning
10/9/19
7:15TONY DOKOUPIL: We want to get to an exclusive interview with CBS News. It's with Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren who insists that she was fired from a teaching job nearly 50 years ago because she was pregnant. A series of reports have questioned the story she's been telling it on the campaign trail. But the senator responded on Twitter overnight reading stories of other women who say they were victims of pregnancy discrimination. A new poll this week shows Warren narrowly leading the Democratic race over former Vice President Joe Biden. Ed O'Keefe is covering campaign 2020. He's in Manchester, New Hampshire. Ed, I don't think that anyone doubts that pregnancy discrimination exists. So, what are the questions about Warren's story in particular?
ED O’KEEFE: Sure, Tony. Good morning. The issue is a key part of Warren's life story Why she left the job as a school teacher and how it set her on her course to run for president. Questions of the legitimacy of the story stem in part from claims she's made in the past about her heritage. In this case, Warren says she stands by her story.
ELIZABETH WARREN: They said, “You're doing a great job, come back next year.” When they found out I was pregnant, they changed that.
O’KEEFE: Senator Warren is defending a story she touts on the campaign trail.
WARREN: The principal did what principals did in those days, wished me luck and hired someone else for the job.
O’KEEFE: She paints a picture she reluctantly took into public service after claiming she was fired from her first teaching job in New Jersey in 1971 while six months pregnant.
WARREN: They wished you luck, showed you the door, and hired someone else for the job.
O’KEEFE: But some have questioned her version of the events pointing to a 2007 interview where he gave a different reason for why she left.
WARREN: I actually didn't have the education courses. So I was on an emergency certificate, it was called. I went back to graduate school and took a couple of courses in education and said, “I don't think this is going to work out for me.”
O’KEEFE: And minutes from school board meetings show Warren's resignation was accepted with regret.
WARREN: It doesn't matter much what the term is. Let's be clear, I was six months pregnant. It was my first job. I was 22 years old, and the job that was mine, that I'd been hired for for the next year, was taken away when they knew I was pregnant.
O’KEEFE: Questions about her employment history come after years of scrutiny over her claims of Native American ancestry which she apologized for over the summer.
WARREN: I know that I've made mistakes. I am sorry for a harm I have caused.
O’KEEFE: Now, Warren says she understands the fresh scrutiny of her backgrounds.
WARREN: I think of how this resonates with so many millions of women across this country, and people who have been in if not that exact situation, similar situations.
O’KEEFE: Our months' long investigation also led us to two of Warren's former teaching colleagues who say they have no recollection of anyone being fired at that time, but that Warren would have had no choice but to leave the job because she was pregnant. All of this happened about seven years before Passage of the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Anthony?
