AP
Elizabeth Warren.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she is "troubled" by news that former president Barack Obama is getting a lucrative paycheck for an upcoming speech to a Wall Street firm.Obama is set to earn $400,000 for a speech in September to investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald, according to a recent report.
"I was troubled by that," Warren said in an appearance on Sirius XM's "Alter Family Politics" show, launching into a critique on money in politics.
"I describe it as a snake that slithers through Washington, and that it shows up in so many different ways here," the Democrat said.
Some Democrats have criticized Obama for taking the hefty paycheck, worried he could be sending mixed messages from a party that has railed against Wall Street in the past. Obama himself blasted "fat-cat bankers on Wall Street" while in office in 2009.
Warren avoided direct criticism of the former president on Thursday, but suggested the high speaking fee is an example of big money expanding its reach.
"The influence of dollars on this place is what scares me," she said. "I think it ultimately threatens democracy."