Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren promised to root out corruption in Washington during a campaign event Friday night at Old Dominion University.
It was Warren’s first town hall since Tuesday’s Democratic debate in Ohio, and her second visit to Virginia this campaign season.
The former law professor took the stage with an American flag backdrop at the Chartway Arena at the Ted Constant Convocation Center at 6:30 p.m. The campaign estimated about 4,000 people of all ages filled less than half of the arena.
Warren, a Massachusetts U.S. senator, is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge President Donald Trump next year. In recent weeks, she has risen in the polls, rivaling front-runner Joe Biden, a former vice president and Delaware senator.
Warren has defined herself as a progressive who is fighting to overhaul health care, education, campaign finance reform and environmental policy. During Tuesday’s debate, moderate Democrats criticized her for avoiding answering yes-or-no to a question about whether her “Medicare for all” health care system proposal would raise taxes for the middle class.
Warren said America’s middle class has been hollowed out. She explained that the government is not functioning for regular people. Rather, she said it caters to corporate America and special interests that bankroll election campaigns.
“When you see a government that works great for the wealthy and the well connected, and isn’t working much for anyone else, that is corruption pure and simple and we need to call it out for what it is,” she said.
David King, 66, of Norfolk said he believes in Warren’s plans to overhaul government and lift up the middle class.
“I like the way she talks about the structural changes in our government,” he said. “We have destroyed the middle class by giving the wealth to most of the top 1%. The rich are getting richer and the poor or getting poorer.”
King, who is retired, cheered when Warren talked about the rising costs of college tuition and her plans to make college free and to cancel student debt.
He shook a Warren campaign sign over his head that said, “DREAM BIG FIGHT HARD” and held up two of his fingers to represent the 2 percent annual tax on assets of people who earn more than $50 million. King graduated with a master’s degree in divinity from Regent University in May. He’d love to see student loan debt cancelled.
Warren’s speech ended around 7:30 p.m., but the event was far from over. Hundreds of people lined up to get a photo with Warren. The senator has made it a tradition to pose for a photo with every person who wants one.
![RICHMOND — The owner of Tarrant’s Cafe in downtown Richmond is a 20-year veteran of the city’s food scene. She started out waiting tables – now she owns four Richmond-area restaurants and is the CEO of RVA Hospitality. Liz Kincaid maintains her urban locations, And Dim Sum, Tarrant’s and Bar Solita, but she’s also found success in the Henrico County suburbs with Tarrant’s West. “Compared to my downtown restaurants, it’s more successful with sales, its guest counts are higher, people are more willing to go out there,” Kincaid said. The restaurant industry experienced significant technology and operational changes since the […]](https://www.pilotonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/And-Dim-Sum.jpg?w=467 "RICHMOND — The owner of Tarrant’s Cafe in downtown Richmond is a 20-year veteran of the city’s food scene. She started out waiting tables – now she owns four Richmond-area restaurants and is the CEO of RVA Hospitality. Liz Kincaid maintains her urban locations, And Dim Sum, Tarrant’s and Bar Solita, but she’s also found success in the Henrico County suburbs with Tarrant’s West. “Compared to my downtown restaurants, it’s more successful with sales, its guest counts are higher, people are more willing to go out there,” Kincaid said. The restaurant industry experienced significant technology and operational changes since the […]")
