In an interview with Yahoo! News posted on Monday, President Barack Obama took a shot at Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) for her vocal opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which she has said could roll back some of the provisions of the so-called Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.
Obama told Yahoo! News’ Matt Bai he would be “pretty stupid” to endorse legislation that would weaken that law and speculated Warren’s motivations for opposing TPP were political.
“I passed [Dodd-Frank],” Obama said. “Think about the logic of that, right? The notion that I had this massive fight with Wall Street to make sure that we don’t repeat what happened in 2007, 2008. And then I sign a provision that would unravel it? I’d have to be pretty stupid. And it doesn’t make any sense … there is no evidence that this could ever be used in this way. This is pure speculation. She and I both taught law school and one of the things you do as a law professor is you spin out hypotheticals. And this is all hypothetical, speculative.”
“The truth of the matter is that Elizabeth is, you know, a politician like everybody else,” he added. “And you know, she’s got a voice that she wants to get out there. I understand that. And on most issues, she and I deeply agree. On this one, though, her arguments don’t stand the test of fact and scrutiny.”
(h/t RCP Video)
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