Politics

Elizabeth Warren buys CNBC commercial time to blast billionaires in a fiery new campaign ad

Key Points
  • Sen. Elizabeth Warren is firing back against a group of billionaires who have criticized her plans with a new TV ad set to air on CNBC later this week.
  • The ad takes aim at longtime investor Leon Cooperman, former CEO of TD Ameritrade Joe Ricketts, former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel.
  • The ad will debut on Thursday on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" and Jim Cramer's "Mad Money" in all New York and Washington, D.C., markets, a campaign aide says.
Leon Cooperman: Warren is 'disgraceful'
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Leon Cooperman: Warren is 'disgraceful'

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is launching a new attack on the billionaires who have criticized her proposed taxes and policies with a new ad set to air on CNBC this week, according to a campaign aide.

Titled "Elizabeth Warren Stands Up to Billionaires," the ad takes aim at longtime investor Leon Cooperman, former CEO of TD Ameritrade Joe Ricketts, former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel.

The ad will premiere Thursday on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street," which airs at 9 a.m. ET, and Jim Cramer's "Mad Money," which airs at 6 p.m. ET, in all New York and Washington, D.C., markets, the aide added. The ad will be part of a digital buy, as well.

Watch the ad here:

The ad opens with Warren telling a campaign rally: "It is time for a wealth tax." The ad then plays clips of the aforementioned billionaires. The part featuring Cooperman notes that the Omega Advisors CEO was charged with insider trading. He settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2017 and paid nearly $5 million in fees.

Cooperman ripped Warren in response to her ad after publication.

Billionaire Leon Cooperman responds to Senator Warren's CNBC wealth tax ad
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Billionaire Leon Cooperman responds to Senator Warren's CNBC wealth tax ad

"In my opinion she represents the worst in politicians as she's trying to demonize wealthy people because there are more poor people then wealthy people," Cooperman told CNBC in a later interview. "As far as the accusations of insider trading, I won the case. She's disgraceful. She doesn't know who the f--- she's tweeting. I gave away more in the year than she has in her whole f----ing lifetime," he added.

Warren recently said she would double her previously proposed tax on billionaires as a way to pay for her "Medicare for All" plan.

A spokesman for CNBC declined to comment.

The ad is the latest salvo between Cooperman and Warren. The billionaire investor recently sent an open letter to Warren, in which he claimed her treatment of him was like "a parent chiding an ungrateful child."

She later fired back in a tweet where she defended her wealth tax plan and called for Cooperman to "pitch in more." Cooperman has since said in interviews with CNBC that Warren is "screwing around with the wrong guy" but that he's open to meeting with her.

Tweet:

Other business titans, including J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, have taken on Warren for her attacks on the wealthy.

Her war with business leaders has led to her crafting a strong group of supporters that have propelled her in the polls.

After being behind the Democratic front-runner, former Vice President Joe Biden, by at least 30 points in May, she has surged to being only six points from catching up to his lead, according to a Real Clear Politics polling average.

Her criticism has sent shockwaves through the wealthy donor class within the Democratic Party. Wall Street financiers have privately been signaling to party leaders they will either sit out or back President Donald Trump if she were to become the nominee. Some have told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer they won't back Democrats running for U.S. Senate seats if she picks up the party mantle.

The ad also comes at a time when one billionaire, Tom Steyer, is running for the Democratic nomination and another, former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, appears to be on the verge of announcing a run for president.

During a forum hosted by Everytown for Gun Safety, a group Bloomberg founded and continues to financially support, the former New York mayor seemed to take a swipe at her anti-corporate policies.

"I just said to Senator Warren on the way out, 'Senator, congratulations, it's a nice talk. But let me just remind you if my company hadn't been successful, we wouldn't be here today, so enough with this stuff,'" he said.

In January, when he was considering a run for president, Bloomberg took a shot at Warren's wealth tax proposal, calling it unconstitutional.

"It's called Venezuela," he said at the time.

Cooperman has said he will back Bloomberg if he runs for president.

Leon Cooperman gets emotional talking about current political climate
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Leon Cooperman gets emotional talking about current political climate