Last night, Elizabeth Warren tweeted a response to the airstrike on Soleimani which began “Soleimani was a murderer, responsible for the deaths of thousands, including hundreds of Americans.” That is all completely accurate, but it was too much for the far left of the party which began attacking Warren as a warmonger:

This statement from Bernie is much better than Elizabeth Warren's. There is no prevarication and qualifications about the empire's bogeymen. It is a firm stance against war. Good to see. We need much more of it, from many more people with political powerhttps://t.co/sL1EV7o3hV — Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) January 3, 2020

Why is it necessary to parrot Trump’s rationale for the assassination? We’re on the verge of a major war. This weak shit that acquiesces to Trump doesn’t help at all and it would’ve been much better if you had said nothing at all — Mike Prysner (@MikePrysner) January 3, 2020

Warren helped Trump on his march to war: -voted for the Iran sanctions that escalated tensions -voted 2x to increase Trump's military budget Her lack of foresight & political courage played a role in getting us to this point. Her words mean little now.https://t.co/jrPPWOk36s — TrekkerTeach (@trekkerteach12) January 3, 2020

https://twitter.com/Yang4M/status/1213147647265009664

I've been a supporter, but this is just weak. Do better. Try leaving the first sentence out, for starters. — Ed Gaillard (@EdwardGaillard) January 3, 2020

There’s a lot more of this but you get the idea. The left was not happy with her statement because of that first line which suggested that maybe Soleimani had it coming. So today, Warren published a revised statement:

We’re on the brink of yet another war in the Middle East—one that would be devastating in terms of lives lost and resources wasted. We’re not here by accident. We’re here because a reckless president, his allies, and his administration have spent years pushing us here. — Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) January 3, 2020

All three of my brothers served in uniform. I know the sacrifices we ask of them and their families. Trump’s actions put every service member and diplomat in the region at risk. This is a moment for vigilance—for Americans to speak up and speak out. No more Middle East wars. — Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) January 3, 2020

The NY Times’ Jonathan Martin points out the substantial differences:

After @ewarren gets attacked by left —- for noting Soleimani was a murderer & supporting increased DoD $ — she comes back w new statement calling killing an assassination, only criticizing Trump policy Like MFA, illustrates the difficultly of appealing to Dem estab + the left — Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) January 3, 2020

Martin is correct that this is the same dynamic we’ve seen with Warren’s support for Medicare For All. She was all for it as she attempted to capture the left-wing of the party. Then she started to back away slowly when it dawned on her that it probably wasn’t a winning issue in a general election. She’s talking about it a lot less now and that willingness to compromise with electoral (and fiscal) reality has made her suspect on the far left. Why vote for an incremental or nuanced approach when Bernie never blinks (and has better polling numbers)?

Simply put, the far left is as interested in nuanced foreign policy as it is in nuanced domestic policy. It’s not okay to admit Soleimani was a terrorist with a lot of blood on his hands any more than it’s okay to admit M4A might be costly and difficult to pass. The only acceptable response in this situation is to blame Trump/America without hesitation. So Warren is now complying with that demand.

I don’t know why she bothered. The response she got to last night’s statement should have been a hint that the far left is not tracking with her. Changing the statement hours later just makes her look indecisive and alienates any moderate Dems who thought her first statement showed some appropriate nuance. The shifting back and forth in an attempt to please everyone is just not working for her.

Update: Asked why she pivoted away from calling Soleimani a murderer, Warren doesn’t really answer she just filibusters about Trump.