Wealthiest U.S. Senator |Backs Clinton Over Trump

WASHINGTON (CN) — Riding high from recent campaign events with progressive hero Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton courted economic pragmatists Wednesday with an endorsement from the wealthiest member of the U.S. Senate.

Sen. Mark Warner let the message sink in during a conference call this morning on behalf of the Hillary for America campaign. He noted the one trait he shares with Donald Trump is that both have spent more time in business than in politics.

Opensecrets.org put the Virginia's senator's net worth at more than a quarter of a billion dollars in 2012. Warner co-founded Nextel, according to his Senate profile, and became an early investor in a number of technology companies by virtue of his venture-capital firm Columbia Capital.

The Democrat said Trump's reaction to Great Britain exiting the European Union epitomizes the disaster his economic positions hold for the U.S. and global economies.

Trump made the gaffe last week while speaking at his golf course, Turnberry, in Scotland, as global markets crashed in the wake of the so-called Brexit vote.

"If the pound goes down, more people are coming to Turnberry, frankly, so we'll see what happens," Trump said, telling reporters he would "prefer Brexit" and thinks "it would be a good thing."

Warner called the remarks "reckless" today.

"That [Trump] would publically state that Brexit is good for his own personal business is beyond the pale," the Virginia Democrat said,

"Putting together a real estate deal is not the same as understanding how trade or policy works," Warner added.

Exiting the EU leaves the United Kingdom with a difficult problem of funding its national health system, but the global implications will hit U.S. markets as well.

If an economic depression did draw foreign golfers to Turnberry, for example, U.S. golf courses would have trouble competing for their business.

Warner emphasized the importance of separating the "facts from puffery" when it comes to the real estate mogul.

The senator called for voters to unify around the passage of the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement, which he said was the "right approach" to "make sure that we continue to leverage the United States as a world leader."

Warner said he and Clinton have a shared concern for how the TTP would affect people who have been "dislocated" by global trade policies.

"As we have seen remorse of taking rash actions [like Brexit], Donald Trump's actions [would be] like rash actions on steroids," the senator said. "His positions are like something out of a 19th century framework and would put our country further into debt. And Trump's policies would not do enough to help communities who have been dislocated."

The senator took another stab at Trump when questioned about which policies specifically Clinton may implement as a means to protect these dislocated people.

"We don't help them by walling off America or starting trade wars," he responded. "You don't look at where the puck is going, you look where it has been," he said.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit