OBAMA: Elizabeth Warren is 'wrong' on trade
"I love Elizabeth. We're allies on a whole host of issues. But she's wrong on this," Obama said Tuesday on MSNBC's "Hardball."
Warren, one of the most high-profile populist voices in Congress, has warned that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could undermine US sovereignty. Warren claims a "buried" provision would "shift power from American courts, whose authority is derived from our Constitution, to unaccountable international tribunals."
A number of unions and other liberal lawmakers have also come out against the deal, a 12-nation accord that includes countries on four continents. In a rare moment where Obama is allied with congressional Republicans, the president is seeking to "fast track" the deal, which would give him additional authority to negotiate the agreement's terms.
But Obama said his progressive critics should trust him on the issue.
"I would not be doing this trade deal if I did not think it was good for the middle class. And when you hear folks make a lot of suggestions about how bad this trade deal is, when you dig into the facts, they are wrong," he said Tuesday.
Obama also accused some of the deal's opponents of distorting the truth for political purposes.
"Some of this has to do with I think people's legitimate fears and concerns. Some of it has to do with politics," he said. "Democrats aren't averse to making political arguments that aren't always entirely accurate. We do it less often than the other side."