Warren: ‘Marry one woman. Assuming you can find one’

Senator Elizabeth Warren at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and CNN’s presidential town hall focused on LGBTQ issues on Thursday. Mario Tama/Getty Images/Getty Images

Senator Elizabeth Warren delivered quite the burn at CNN’s Equality Town Hall Thursday in response to a question from Morgan Cox, chair of the Human Rights Campaign Board of Directors, on how she would respond to someone who says marriage is between one man and one woman.

“You’re on the campaign trail and a supporter approaches you and says, ‘Senator, I’m old-fashioned and my faith teaches me that marriage is between one man and one woman.’ What’s your response?” Cox said.

“I’m going to assume it’s a guy who said that, and I’m just going to say, then just marry one woman,” Warren said.

After a pause she shrugged and added, “assuming you can find one” before walking back across the stage towards moderator Chris Cuomo.

This Elizabeth Warren answer was quite a moment at CNN #EqualityTownHall pic.twitter.com/ThpI7YSO8M

— MJ Lee (@mj_lee) October 11, 2019

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation co-hosted the town hall, which drew several presidential candidates, in addition to Warren for a series of interviews focused on issues facing the LGBTQ community. It was the first presidential event broadcast on a major news network focused on such issues.

Earlier Thursday, Warren released a plan aimed at protecting and securing LGBTQ rights and equality.

Warren’s moment could further boost her campaign as she rises in the polls both nationwide and in several early states. Made-for-the-Internet clips have become increasingly important in the 2019 Democratic primary campaign thanks in part to the Democratic National Committee’s debate structure, which favors candidates who can gain early nationwide appeal in the polls and thus a spot on the debate stage.

Viral clips can also provide a boost for a candidate’s fund-raising efforts. After former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke declared in an impassioned argument during the most recent debate that he was in favor of mandatory gun buybacks, an O’Rourke staffer reported that the campaign saw its best two hours of fund-raising of the entire quarter.

Warren will take the stage with 11 other candidates for the next Democratic debate on Tuesday in Ohio.