Elizabeth Warren threw a punch at her main hedge fund critic, Leon Cooperman, and other billionaires with a new presidential campaign ad trolling them where they live: CNBC.
In the ad, due to premiere on the business news network in New York and Washington, DC, on Thursday morning, Warren shows a clip of Cooperman saying, “The vilification of billionaires makes no sense to me. It’s bull.” The clip is immediately followed by text telling viewers that Cooperman was “charged with insider trading.”
Cooperman’s Omega Advisors in 2017 forked over roughly $5 million to settle allegations by the Securities and Exchange Commission that he earned $4 million in illicit profits tied to a sale of assets by natural gas company Atlas Pipeline Partners. He didn’t admit or deny wrongdoing.
The commercial, first reported by CNBC, marks the latest escalation in Warren’s public feud with the Bronx-born Cooperman, who has gone on-air multiple times this year to bash her policies, especially when it comes to the uber-wealthy.
Warren wants to use revenue from her proposed wealth tax to fund social programs such as universal child care, free college and the cancellation of student loans.
The ad also takes shots at other of her critics, including former TD Ameritrade CEO Joe Ricketts, ex-Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein and tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel.
Blankfein took to Twitter Thursday to say he was “surprised” to be featured in the ad, given that “we align on many issues.” “Vilification of people as a member of a group may be good for her campaign, not the country. Maybe tribalism is just in her DNA,” he said.
Cooperman responded to the new ad by calling Warren “disgraceful” in a Wednesday interview with CNBC.
“In my opinion, she represents the worst in politicians as she’s trying to demonize wealthy people because there are more poor people (than) wealthy people,” Cooperman told the network. “As far as the accusations of insider trading, I won the case.”
As part of the settlement, Cooperman and Omega agreed to “onsite monitoring by an independent compliance consultant.”
The ad comes about two weeks after Cooperman ripped Warren and her “soak-the-rich positions” in a lengthy open letter. The five-page Oct. 30 missive accused the senator of admonishing Cooperman like “a parent chiding an ungrateful child” after she urged him to “pitch in a bit more.”
Cooperman has also reportedly said he worries the stock market would suffer if Warren were to beat Republican President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. He told CNBC last week that he would back fellow billionaire Michael Bloomberg if he ultimately enters the race.
