Clinton Says Warren, Stepping Up Trump Attacks, Has Her Ear

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton says she is looking forward to having the “good advice and counsel” of Elizabeth Warren as the liberal senator steps up attacks on Republican standard-bearer Donald Trump.

Clinton plans to consult with Warren and others about how to implement a Wall Street regulation plan, and has spoken to the senator in the “last few weeks,” she said in an interview with Bloomberg Politics on Thursday.

“We’ve stayed in touch over the campaign and I’m very much looking forward to having her good advice and counsel as we move to the general-election campaign,” Clinton said. “I have the highest regard for her.” Clinton said she’d particularly focus on guarding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Dodd-Frank rules, which are important to Warren.

Warren is “qualified” to be vice president, Clinton said in a separate interview with Politico on Thursday. Clinton has previously said the U.S. may be ready for a two-woman ticket this year and that she will focus on qualifications in her running-mate search.

Warren, who could help energize Democrats ahead of the November election, will take her involvement in the presidential race to a new level with harsh criticism of Trump in a speech scheduled for Thursday night.

Warren will make the comments on the same stage as Vice President Joe Biden at a convention of the American Constitution Society in Washington, two days after Clinton claimed the Democratic nomination.

Neither Warren nor Biden has made an official endorsement yet, though President Barack Obama announced his support of Clinton Thursday afternoon after meeting with her primary rival, Senator Bernie Sanders.

Biden and Warren’s backing and involvement in a presidential campaign would be coveted by Clinton because of their ability to sway working-class and liberal voters in battleground states. Sanders said after his meeting with Obama that he’ll continue his battle for the Democratic nomination through the Washington, D.C., primary next Tuesday; his continuing campaign has made some in the party reluctant to formally endorse Clinton.

Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, plans to attack Trump over comments he made about a federal judge. Trump had said that U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing lawsuits against Trump University, is biased against Trump, citing the judge’s Mexican descent.

“Donald Trump chose racism as his weapon, but his aim is exactly the same as the rest of the Republicans,” Warren said in prepared remarks. “Pound the courts into submission to the rich and powerful.”

‘Loud, Nasty’

Warren’s remarks also described Trump as “a loud, nasty, thin-skinned fraud who has never risked anything for anyone and serves nobody but himself.”

Biden isn’t planning to make an endorsement at the event, said Meghan Dubyak, a spokeswoman. The vice president’s office didn’t release a text of his speech ahead of time. Warren declined to answer questions from reporters Wednesday.

Both Warren and Biden plan to hammer Republicans for blocking Obama’s effort in his waning months in office to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

“In this politically tumultuous time, with a bitter and divisive presidential campaign and a crisis of judicial vacancies, from lower courts to an unfilled seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, Vice President Biden, Sen. Warren and the other speakers will reenergize us for the long fight ahead,” American Constitution Society President Caroline Fredrickson said in a statement.

Activists had sought early on to enlist Warren to challenge Clinton but the senator took herself out of consideration. Sanders became a proxy of sorts for the effort to draft Warren.