US election 2016: Elizabeth Warren says she's ready to be Hillary Clinton's running mate

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Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator and darling of the liberal left, has offered her full-throated endorsement to Hillary Clinton and said she is ready to be the presumptive Democratic nominee's running mate.

Speaking to Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, Ms Warren said: “I’m ready. I am ready to get in this fight and work my heart out for Hillary Clinton to become the next president of the United States — and to make sure that Donald Trump never gets anyplace close to the White House.”

Ms Warren, who is often mentioned as a potential running mate for Ms Clinton, has said she does not want the job of Vice President. But, asked by Ms Maddow whether she believed she would be up to the task if called upon, she replied: “Yes, I do.”

The Senator, a staunch critic of Wall Street, was once considered a potential primary challenger to Ms Clinton, and had declined to endorse either the former Secretary of State or her progressive challenger, Bernie Sanders, until now. She made her announcement on Thursday, the same day that President Barack Obama also endorsed Ms Clinton.

While she may have stayed out of the Democratic race, Ms Warren has been active in her opposition to Donald Trump, launching a series of Twitter sorties against the presumptive Republican nominee.

On Thursday, in a speech to the American Constitution Society, a liberal legal organisation, she described the billionaire reality TV star as a “thin-skinned, racist bully… who inherited a fortune and kept it rolling along by cheating people.”

Ms Warren also attacked Mr Trump for his “race-baiting” regarding Gonzalo Curiel, the Indiana-born judge overseeing a fraud lawsuit against Trump University, whose impartiality Mr Trump has questioned due to Mr Curiel’s “Mexican heritage”.

The Massachusetts Senator said Mr Trump’s comments were “a total disgrace,” adding: “You shame yourself and you shame this great country.”

Vice President Joe Biden also spoke at the same event, describing Mr Trump’s remarks as “reprehensible” and “racist”. Mr Biden, who was himself almost a primary rival for Ms Clinton, offered his own endorsement of the former Secretary of State, saying: “God willing, in my view, [the next president] will be Secretary Clinton.”