Elizabeth Warren criticised for saying she took broke student’s last few dollars

Student with only $6 in bank donated $3, according to Democrat

Struggling Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has come under fire for saying she accepted a donation from a student with only $6 (£4.60) in the bank.

Interviewed on MSNBC following her fourth-place finish on Tuesday, Ms Warren said she was still able to count on a dedicated following as the campaign heads towards Nevada and South Carolina. To back this up, she gave a description of a recent donor she met.

She told the broadcaster: “A young woman came up by herself and said, ‘I’m a broke college student, with a lot of student loan debt.’ And she said, ‘I checked and I have six dollars in the bank. So I just gave three dollars to keep you in this fight.’"

“That’s what we’ve gotta do. We’ve gotta stay in this fight with people who are counting on us.”

Ms Warren’s campaign team tweeted the video from her official account.

Much of the response to her anecdote has been negative, with many questioning why she accepted the money.

Others contrasted the student donor's apparent poverty with Ms Warren's wealth. The Democrat is worth about $12m (£9.2m) and has been criticised for using a private jet.

The Massachusetts senator was expected to make a major impact on the Democratic primary, and has even been touted as a likely winner by some. She is calling for free public higher education and proposes to cancel student debt for 42 million Americans.

Despite her high profile, dedicated following and strong fundraising, she has badly underperformed in the first two of the race’s contests. She will now need a strong finish in at least one of the next two states – Nevada and South Carolina – to regain her status as a top-tier candidate.