In a pre-recorded interview shown on CBS Sunday Morning, correspondent Chip Reid tried to push Senator Elizabeth Warren to accuse Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Senate Republicans of "sexism" as part of a piece that was mostly favorable toward toward the Massachusetts Democrat. Reid: "Do you think there was some sexism involved here?...Do you think they treated male Senators differently than you?"
Referring to the time in February when she was ordered to stop reading a letter by Coretta King as part of an attack on then-Senator and Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions, Warren ended up hinting that "sexism" was behind her admonishment because four male Senators were allowed to read the same letter later on. But viewers were not told that, unlike the four male Senators, Warren was a repeat offender who had already been given a warning after reading comments made by former Senator Ted Kennedy attacking Sessions.
Several minutes into the piece, Warren was seen recalling that she used to watch Donald Trump on The Apprentice but got tired of his "shtick" after a couple of years. The report then switched to Warren on the Senate floor requesting permission to continue reading King's letter. Reid recalled: "Shtick may have been what some of her GOP Senate colleagues thought in February. ... Republicans voted to silence Warren for impugning the character of Trump's attorney general nominee, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions."
Then came a clip of Senator McConnell: "She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted."
Reid continued: "Warren was reading a 1986 letter from the widow of Martin Luther King Jr. that criticized Sessions. Once silenced, she kept right on reading outside the Senate chamber."
Reid was then seen with Senator Warren as the CBS correspondent asked: "Do you think there was some sexism involved here?"
After Warren resisted the invitation to charge Republicans with "sexism," he pressed: "Do you think they treated male Senators differently than you?"
Senator Warren then seemed to cave in to Reid's push as she responded: "All I can say is, the next day, four men stood up and read exactly the same letter, and they all got to finish."
As she spoke, on screen was shown video clips of four male Democratic Senators reading the letter on the Senate floor.
The CBS correspondent was then seen pushing his Democratic guest to run for President. After recounting that she is viewed by some as "the defacto leader of the Trump resistance," he then pressed her on a presidential run:
CHIP REID: But if you're the defacto leader of the Trump resistance, doesn't it make logical sense for you to be the person who runs against him in 2020?
SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): This isn't about the election in four years. This is about what happens this week.
REID: Are you thinking about it?
WARREN: No.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the April 16 CBS News Sunday Morning:
SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA) (from the Senate chamber): I ask leave of the Senate to continue my remarks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there objection?
MITCH MCCONNELL, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: I object.
CHIP REID: Shtick may have been what some of her GOP Senate colleagues thought in February.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Senator will take her seat.
REID: Republicans voted to silence Warren for impugning the character of Trump's attorney general nominee, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions.
MCCONNELL: She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.
REID: Warren was reading a 1986 letter from the widow of Martin Luther King Jr. that criticized Sessions. Once silenced, she kept right on reading outside the Senate chamber.
WARREN (from outside the Senate chamber): Mr. Sessions sought to punish older black civil rights activists-
REID: Do you think there was some sexism involved here?
WARREN: I think what was really going on was people knew there was a problem with have Jeff Sessions as attorney general of the United States.
REID: Not sexism?
WARREN: For me it wasn't about --
REID: Do you think they treated male Senators differently than you?
WARREN: All I can say is, the next day, four men stood up and read exactly the same letter, and they all got to finish.
REID: Her assistance in opposing the new administration at almost every turn has made Elizabeth Warren both a polarizing figure and a progressive favorite. You've been described as, quote, "the defacto leader of the Trump resistance." Are you comfortable with that?
WARREN: Look, if it works. What I want to do is I want to have every person in this country lift their voices and be heard.
REID: But if you're the defacto leader of the Trump resistance, doesn't it make logical sense for you to be the person who runs against him in 2020?
WARREN: This isn't about the election in four years. This is about what happens this week.
REID: Are you thinking about it?
WARREN: No.
