US Senator Elizabeth Warren says she's running for president, adding a fierce advocate of economic populism to an already crowded field of Democrats vying for the presidency in 2020.
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Warren, a Harvard Law School professor-turned-politician, may be the most well-known figure to enter the presidential race. Since being elected to the Senate in 2012, Warren has stood at the most progressive end of the Democratic party, advocating higher taxes on the wealthy and consumer protections.
Her platform includes a tax on the richest 75,000 Americans.
"Hard working people are up against a small group of people that holds far too much power, not just in our economy but also in our democracy," Warren said at a rally on Saturday announcing her presidential bid in Lawrence, Massachusetts. "We are here to say enough is enough."
She called President Donald Trump a "product of a rigged system that props up the rich and powerful and kicks dirt on everyone else."
The 69-year-old Massachusettsan has already become a main target of Trump, who has dubbed her "Pocahontas" for previously identifying herself as a Native American, a controversy that has plagued the run-up to her candidacy.
Trump invoked the controversy when he ridiculed Warren on Saturday, tweeting: "Will she run as our first Native American presidential candidate, or has she decided that after 32 years, this is not playing so well anymore?"
"See you on the campaign TRAIL, Liz!" he added.
The storm over Warren's ancestry claims deepened when she sought to neutralise the attacks by releasing a DNA analysis in October, which said that she likely has a Native American ancestor "6-10 generations ago".
The Cherokee Nation blasted Warren for the test, which they said was a false claim to tribal membership, leading the senator to apologise.
Australian Associated Press
