U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, spoke to a crowd at Nashville’s Pearl Cohn High School on April 5. (Photo: John Partpilo)
(This story has been updated with additional details.)
In Nashville on Saturday U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren criticized President Donald Trump’s and billionaire ally Elon Musk’s economic policies, saying they are handing the country over to billionaires at the expense of Americans’ personal finances.
“Seventy three million Americans get Social Security checks. It is not charity,” said Warren. “Elon Musk’s plan is to fire the people who get those Social Security checks out so that fewer people are able to get their Social Security checks.”
“Does firing half the people at the Social Security agency put money in your pockets?” Warren asked.
About 800 people attended the event, billed as “The People’s Town Hall,” held at Pearl Cohn Magnet School. The event was part of a national Democratic initiative to make inclusions into Republican-dominated states in which federal lawmakers are holding few, if any, public meetings.
Warren specifically addressed cuts to veterans programs and public education.
“Public schools are the investment in our future,” Warren said. “They give millions of kids in America – all of our kids – an opportunity to grow, to learn, to live independently, an opportunity to support themselves, an opportunity to contribute to this country.”
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaking in Nashville as part of a nationwide day of rallies to push back on President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s policies. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell spoke to the crowd before Warren took the stage, as did state Sen. Charlane Oliver, a Nashville Democrat who represents the district in which the event was held.
Oliver referenced anti-immigrant bills moving through the Tennessee legislature, including one that would challenge Plyler v. Doe, the 1982 Supreme Court ruling that states cannot deny public education to children without constant legal status.
“We are fighting for a nation of the future that includes all of us,” Oliver said.
State Democratic lawmakers attending the Nashville event included, in addition to Oliver, Sen. Jeff Yarbro, Reps. Shaundelle Brooks, Yusuf Hakeem, Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, Bo Mitchell and Gabby Salinas.
“It’s rare to have a leader with a mind like mine here in Tennessee,” said Sharon Dean of Nashville, of her attendance at the Warren event.
Thousands of Tennesseans turned across the state — including in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga — to protest Trump’s and Musk’s sweeping cuts to federal agencies through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE.)
Threat of severe weather didn’t deter the approximately 1,500 rallygoers at Nashville’s Centennial Park, despite confusion after event organizers cancelled the protest Saturday morning because of weather concerns.
The “Hands Off!” rallies like the ones in Tennessee were held nationwide Saturday. Indivisible, a nonprofit group founded after Trump’s first election in 2016, was one of the primary organizers of the event.
“The Tennessee Republican Party wants to send our prayers to all the Tennessee families that have experienced loss of both life and property since this significant weather event that has impacted most of our State over the last four days. Yet, while most Tennesseans were dealing with the aftermath of the storms and flooding, the Democrat Party chose today to continue their election complaints against President Trump which the American people rejected at the ballot box a little over 4 months ago,” said Tennessee Republican Party Chair Scott Golden in a statement.
“Political dissent, without violence, is enshrined in the 1st amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Tennessee Democrats are welcomed to continue to rehash the issues of 2024 which led to the landslide victories for President Trump and the Republican Party. Anytime Senator Warren and her brand of liberalism comes to Tennessee it improves our chances for victory in 2026,” Golden’s statement said.
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