At the 2025 South by Southwest Conference, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sat down with veteran journalist Kara Swisher for a live episode of On with Kara Swisher. The conversation, held at the Vox Media Podcast Stage, covered Warren’s take on the first weeks of Donald Trump’s second presidency, the rollback of consumer protections, and the growing influence of billionaires in American politics.
Swisher introduced Warren as a long-time progressive champion, known for her fierce advocacy for consumer protections and her push to regulate Big Tech. Their conversation centered on what Warren called the “rigging” of the system in favor of the ultra-wealthy, particularly with the apparent alliance between Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk.
One of the most urgent topics was the fate of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the agency Warren helped create in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Under the new administration, Warren warned, the CFPB is essentially being dismantled, a move she attributed to Trump’s and Musk’s desire to eliminate regulatory oversight.
“The world is tilted, it’s rigged, and it is rigged in favor of really rich people, and against pretty much everybody else,” Warren said. “And that the real struggle that’s going on, and I mean it in a big way right now, is which way is our country going to go? And this is what co-presidents Elon Musk and Donald Trump have really put on the table. And that is, are we really going to be a country that just hands it all over to the billionaires, a handful of people with power, and say, you guys run this country however you want, and the rest of us will just pick up whatever you leave behind, and we’ll try to make something out of it?”
She accused the Trump administration of attempting to sidestep constitutional checks and balances by shuttering agencies they dislike and ignoring established laws. “The Constitution is so yesterday,” she said sarcastically, summarizing what she sees as Trump’s and Musk’s approach to governance.
Democrats’ Path Forward
Swisher pressed Warren on whether Democrats have a coherent strategy to counter these shifts. While some argue that the party is experiencing an identity crisis, Warren firmly rejected that notion.
“I know who I am and what I’m fighting for,” she stated. “We are fighting for an America where everybody gets a chance, not just billionaires.”
Swisher pointed out that Republicans, regardless of their policies, often present a unified front, while Democrats appear fractured between moderates and progressives. Warren acknowledged the challenge but dismissed concerns about disunity. “Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line,” she quipped. “But if you look at what’s happening right now, it’s actually Republicans who are in disarray.”
As the conversation wrapped up, Swisher asked Warren about her political future, specifically whether she would consider another run for president. Warren’s answer was a firm “No.”
Swisher describes Warren as a steadfast leader, one of the party’s key voices who continues to remind Americans that Democrats are committed to fighting fiercely for their values. Her focus remains unwavering on the ongoing battle for economic fairness and government accountability, recognizing that the struggle is far from over.
With a mix of humor, urgency, and defiance, Warren’s discussion at SXSW underscored her ongoing role as a leading progressive voice.
