Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she
is "troubled" by news that former president Barack Obama is getting a
lucrative paycheck for an upcoming speech to a
Wall Street firm.
Obama is set to earn $400,000 for a speech in
September to investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald, according to a recent report.
"I was troubled by that," Warren
said in an appearance on Sirius XM's "Alter Family Politics" show,
launching into a critique on money in politics.
"I describe it as a snake that slithers
through Washington, and that it shows up in so many different ways here,"
the Democrat said.
Some Democrats have criticized Obama for
taking the hefty paycheck, worried he could be sending mixed messages from a
party that has railed against Wall Street in the past. Obama himself blasted
"fat-cat bankers on Wall Street" while in office in 2009.
Warren avoided direct criticism of the former
president on Thursday, but suggested the high speaking fee is an example of big
money expanding its reach.
"The influence of dollars on this place
is what scares me," she said. "I think it ultimately threatens
democracy."
BI
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