Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) criticized Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz for selecting former Hewlett-Packard executive Carly Fiorina as his running mate, arguing the pick shows the Texas senator has "no judgment whatsoever."
Fiorina challenged Boxer for her Senate seat in 2010, and lost the election by 10 points. Boxer effectively used Fiorina's HP tenure against her, criticizing the former CEO for laying off thousands at the California-based company and moving many jobs overseas. The failed Senate campaign loomed large over Fiorina's foray into the 2016 presidential race, which ended shortly after underwhelming performances in the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary.
In an interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell on Thursday, Boxer said Cruz's decision to name Fiorina as his running mate should he win the GOP nomination was ill-conceived.
"She hasn't held office, any office, be it Senate, House, state legislature, local government, not a minute's worth, and her claim to fame is running a large corporation which she practically destroyed, Hewlett-Packard, the pride of California," she said. "I think it just shows Ted Cruz has no judgment whatsoever by choosing her."
Boxer pointed to an ad her campaign ran in 2010 featuring some of the people fired during the HP layoffs, arguing it illustrated that Fiorina is "the face of corporate greed."
"I think if Carly Fiorina is on a national ticket, that would be really good for the Democrats because ... in the worst year for Democrats, and I mean it, I beat her by 1 million votes," Boxer said. "We just showed her record when she was at HP and how selfish she is as a human being."
Boxer, who is supporting former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D) for president, also criticized the choice in a brutal tweet referencing HP's controversial merger with Compaq:
Fiorina responded to Boxer's criticism on Thursday, claiming the Compaq deal was "the most successful merger in high-tech history."
“It saved a company and created 80,000 jobs. But not that Barbara Boxer would understand that, since all she has ever done is be a professional politician," she said in an interview with Fox News.
Polling indicates that many voters agree with Boxer. As of February, Fiorina's national unfavorability rating was 42.7 percent, while her favorability stood at 25.2 percent. And among Republicans, Fiorina was less popular than Cruz, Ben Carson, Donald Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) as of late January.
Cruz's pick is generally seen as a last-ditch effort to shore up support going into the final stretch of primaries. However, it's debatable whether Fiorina will have much impact.
“This will help Cruz dominate a couple of news cycles before next week’s make-or-break primary in Indiana," said Monmouth University polling director Patrick Murray, "but it is likely to have a limited impact on swaying voters or, more importantly, convention delegates."
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