Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) linked the Republican Party's obstruction throughout President Barack Obama's tenure to the rise of Donald Trump, arguing the GOP has only itself to blame for the state of the presidential race.

In an interview Thursday with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, Warren said the popularity of Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is simply a byproduct of seven years of a Republican Party that refused to treat Obama's presidency as legitimate.

"These are both people who basically deny the legitimacy of their opponents, they go on the attack, they demean millions of Americans," she said. "That's what identifies them as extremists."

But according to Warren, that brand of extremism is nothing new within the Republican Party.

"What have Republicans in the Senate been doing since the very day Barack Obama was sworn in?" Warren said. "They have given into their extremists. In fact, they have nursed their extremists along, so that there have been fights and delays over the basic things that happen in government."

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) explained to MSNBC's Rachel Maddow how the GOP's history of obstruction contributed to Donald Trump's popularity.

Warren pointed to various instances of Senate Republicans freezing out Obama nominees across government, from agencies to embassies to courts.

"It's not about a problem with a particular nominee," she continued. "What they were trying to do is effectively deny the legitimacy of this president, try to shut down the government, try to keep it from functioning."

And now, with Republicans refusing to even consider an Obama nominee to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court, the obstruction is even more blatantly political.

"That's what constitutes extremism in the United States Senate," she said of the Supreme Court controversy. "That's what has nursed what's going on now in the presidential primaries."

"They are paying the price for their own extremism. It has now taken them by the throat," she continued. "Guys, this is what you did to yourselves."

Earlier this week, Warren tore into Republicans for obstructing a potential Supreme Court nominee and accused the party of giving in to extremists.

"If you want to stop extremism in your party, you can start by showing the American people that you respect the president of the United States and the Constitution enough to do your job," she said.

Editor's note: Donald Trump is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist, birther and bully who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.