Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke at Columbia College Wednesday night, during a question and answer forum. The potential presidential candidate spoke to a crowd of almost a thousand about fighting corruption, creating more affordable housing and ending the government shutdown.
Thursday marked day 34 of the partial government shutdown and also the day that the Senate is scheduled to vote on two bills, one proposed by the Democrats, the other by the GOP.
The question and answer forum took place hours after a gunman barricaded himself in a SunTrust bank in Sebring Florida and killed five people. During Warren’s event, a sixteen year-old asked the Massachusetts senator what she would do to stop mass shootings.
Warren is the third "big-name" democrat to visit the state this week. Monday, during the national Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King holiday, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New Yew Jersey Senator Cory Booker both spoke at the annual King Day at the Dome march and rally. Sanders stayed in the Midlands and spoke to Benedict College students, Tuesday.
South Carolina will be the first southern state to hold is democratic presidential primary in 2020. Along with having a large African-American democratic population, the state is a good place for presidential hopefuls to test their message.
California Senator Kamala Harris will speak to her South Carolina sorority sisters Friday, during the annual Pink Ice Gala. Harris officially announced her bid for the presidency on January 21 during Good Morning America.
As for Warren, when she announced the launch of her exploratory committee back on December 31, she was the first major democrat to take a formal step towards running for president in 2020. In a video to supporters, she focuses on economic fairness.
In 2018 Warren introduced several bills in the Senate including a sweeping anti-corruption bill and an historic housing bill.
Warren spoke with South Carolina Public Radio about how these proposals could help families in South Carolina.