Even a Million Dollar Offer From Bill Maher Can’t Convince Elizabeth Warren To Run

Bill Maher offered Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) a million dollar donation if she ran for president and became the Democratic nominee, but Warren flatly rejected him.

Maher said, “However, there is one candidate that if they got the nomination. I said if they got the nomination. I’m not made out of money, and I may have to take a job as an Uber driver, but if you choose to run and are the candidate, I will find a way to give you a million dollars. So does that change your thinking at all?”

Sen. Warren (D-MA) answered, “I’m not running for president, but I do want to say this when we talk about money. I get it about money, and I get it with what’s happening with Citizens United, but there’s another half to this, and that is on the other side, we may not have the money, but we have our voices, and if we get out there, and get organized, and use our voices, I truly believe in grassroots. I believe in what we can do by linking up together. I believe in the power of what we can do to build a country together. One that works not just for the one percent, or even the top ten percent, but a country that works for all of us.”

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

If anyone out there still needed convincing that Sen. Warren is not running for president, her answer to Bill Maher was definitive. Of course, by turning down Maher’s money, she has only whetted the appetite of her supporters, but Warren is not running. She has consistently said that she isn’t running, and no amount of media parsing has changed her basic answer of no.

It was a nice try by Bill Maher, but Sen. Warren (D-MA) is well aware that she would have to compromise the principles that her supporters love about her if she ran for president. She would have to take big donations in order raise the absurd amount of cash needed to be competitive. A presidential campaign would also reveal that Warren isn’t much different from Hillary Clinton on the vast majority of issues.

Sen. Warren has been a tireless advocate and supporter of her fellow Democrats on the campaign trail. She is more powerful in the Senate that she would be if she were shackled by the burdens of a presidential campaign. Warren is supporting former Sec. of State Clinton. She will work hard to hold Clinton accountable to the left, but at the end of the day, she will hit the campaign trail for the likely Democratic nominee.

Bill Maher deserves credit for his unique approach to a question that Warren has to be tired of being asked, but Democrats, including Sen. Warren, look like they are ready for Hillary.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association