Elizabeth Warren eviscerates Trump: 'A loud, thin-skinned fraud'

Reuters/Jason Reed

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren unloaded on Donald Trump on Thursday, calling the presumptive Republican nominee a "loud, nasty, thin-skinned fraud" and a "racist bully" during a fiery speech in Washington.

Warren's barbs centered on Trump's racially charged attacks on US District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is presiding over a civil lawsuit involving Trump's defunct real-estate school, Trump University.

Trump has argued that the Indiana-born Curiel cannot fairly preside over the case because of his Mexican descent and Trump's campaign promise to build a wall along the US-Mexico border.

"Judge Curiel is one of countless American patriots who has spent decades quietly serving his country," said Warren, speaking at a convention of the American Constitution Society. "Donald Trump is a loud, nasty, thin-skinned fraud who has never risked anything for anyone and serves nobody but himself."

"That is just one of the many reasons why he will never be President of the United States," she added.

Warren and Trump engaged in pointed back-and-forths on Twitter last month, but Thursday's speech marked an aggressive shift in rhetoric for the senator.

“Donald, you should be ashamed of yourself," Warren said. "Ashamed for using the megaphone of a presidential campaign for attacking a judge’s character and integrity simply because you think you have a God-given right to steal people’s money and get away with it.”

Warren also linked Trump to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, two prominent Republicans who have disavowed Trump's comments against Curiel but continue to support him. 

"Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell want Donald Trump to appoint the next generation of judges," she said. "They want those judges to tilt the law to favor big business and billionaires like Trump. They just want Donald to quit being so vulgar and obvious about it."

Trump's attacks are a natural extension of recent Republican obstructionism, she argued, including the party's attempt to block the confirmation of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.

"[Trump is] exactly the kind of candidate you'd expect from a Republican Party whose script for several years has been to execute a full-scale assault on the integrity of our courts," she said.

Warren will reportedly endorse Hillary Clinton for president later Thursday night. Clinton scored a key endorsement from President Barack Obama earlier Thursday, three days after securing enough delegates to earn the Democratic presidential nomination.

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