“I was troubled by that,” the Massachusetts Democrat said Thursday on SiriusXM’s “Alter Family Politics.” “One of the things I talk about in the book (“This Fight Is Our Fight: The Battle to Save America’s Middle Class”) is the influence of money. I describe it as a snake that slithers through Washington and that it shows up in so many different ways here in Washington.”

Warren, an icon of the left and influential Democratic leader in the Trump era, is the most prominent progressive to publicly question Obama’s decision, particularly after Hillary Clinton alienated many liberals during the 2016 election over her coziness with Wall Street.

Despite the influence of the wealthy in politics, however, Warren said she is confident that the numbers are in favor of the American people.