Paul Sperry writes for the Federalist about another example of political hypocrisy.
When Sen. Elizabeth A. Warren recently traveled to the Big Apple to endorse New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, she was asked if overt socialism is really the best model for Democrats to adopt. “You bet,” she replied in her signature folksy style.
The Boston lawmaker wasn’t just jumping on the sudden trendiness of socialism three-and-a-half decades after its near-extinction. With fellow Senate traveler Bernie Sanders, Warren has been a catalyst for moving her party to the left since her first campaign in 2012.
She and Sanders are, in many ways, the godparents of the self-avowed Democratic Socialists such as Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who are providing the youthful energy for the Democrats in the Trump era.
As Warren’s attacks on Wall Street and the wealthy are gaining even wider traction among liberals — a recent Gallup poll found 66 percent of Democrats have a positive view of socialism — the apparent contradictions between her public economic positions and private financial decisions are receiving new scrutiny, particularly as the one-time presidential candidate appears to be testing those waters again.
Financial records examined by RealClearInvestigations show that Warren has hardly followed the path of socialism in her personal finances. Start with the redistribution of wealth. Warren tirelessly bashes the “selfish” and “greedy” rich for not paying their “fair share,” and demands the government step in and redistribute their income to the poor. But charity does not always begin in the Warren home.
While Warren hauls in nearly $1 million a year, she donated less than 3 percent of her household income to charity in 2024, according to her tax returns. This is much less than the charity of the Obamas, for instance, who typically donate more than 20 percent of their earnings to the needy and philanthropic causes, and low for the average American in her income bracket, studies show. The average millionaire donates more than twice her share.
