Sen. Elizabeth Warren plans to take a hard look at running for president

HOLYOKE, Mass. — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she'll take a "hard look at running for president" after the November elections.

The Massachusetts Democrat spoke about her future during a town hall in western Massachusetts Saturday.

Warren, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, is running for re-election in November against GOP state Rep. Geoff Diehl, who was co-chairman of Trump's 2016 Massachusetts campaign.

She has been at the center of speculation that she might take on Trump in 2020.

Saturday afternoon's event in Holyoke was her 36th meeting with constituents using the town hall format since Trump took office.

An attendee asked her if she planned to run for president.

Warren replied that it's time "for women to go to Washington to fix our broken government, and that includes a woman at the top."

Diehl took to Twitter after the comments, saying Warren should "drop out of the Senate right now and go run for President!"

"She's been misleading the American people and the people of Massachusetts for months now," Diehl said. "Making appearances on national television and local television denying the fact that she wanted to run for president."

Political analyst Thomas Whalen says it was last week's Brett Kavanaugh hearings that tipped Warren in the direction of a White House run.

"She's pretty much said in her comments that it absolutely did have something to do with it," Whalen said. "That it's time for women to step up given what happened, what she saw at the Kavanaugh hearings. What she viewed as a disgrace to the judiciary and to the United States.:

Whalen said Warren would likely be a formidable candidate, but said she isn't without flaws, sitting at 69 years old.

"I think a lot of Democrats want a younger candidate," Whalen said. "And someone in their 40s."

For Diehl, Warren's possible White House run gives him a new line of attack in his Senate run.

Cox Media Group