Last week, we learned that Sen. Elizabeth Warren had one supporter who gave $14.6 million to her Persist PAC. She criticized you pretty heavily for taking outside money. What went through your head when you read that news?

Well, you know how I feel about purity tests, and I did notice that. I’m not sure if she’s been asked about it. Certainly it’s the case that, by their nature, these are not directly coordinated with campaigns. But I also think it’s all the more reason why we can now concentrate our efforts on fixing a system that none of us likes.

You took a significant share of criticism on Twitter during the primary, particularly from members of your own Millennial generation, who saw you as a political opportunist, a corporate shill, and not being gay enough. Some even suggested you were affiliated with the CIA. What did you make of that?

You learn very early on in politics not to take criticism personally. I would much rather have somebody go online or write an article and say, “Your higher ed policy sucks and here’s why…” and critique it point-by-point. Then we could have a debate. But when it gets so over the top, the idea that I’m a CIA agent cleverly disguised as an intelligence officer in the military, or that I took down Blue Cross Blue Shield Michigan, or that I was somehow responsible for the Great Canadian Bread Pricing Scandal of 2002. Or perhaps the most bizarre one of all: That I had something to do with the app crashing in Iowa when no individual suffered more or was impacted more, I think, in terms of political trajectory as a consequence of that then than me and my campaign.

That’s where you learn that, okay, yes it is personal, but it’s still not about you. It’s about a cartoon character version of you that people are building up and then tearing back down as a way of expressing their frustration with things that are bigger than you or that you may remind them of. But it’s actually not about you, because the caricature they’re talking about doesn’t even resemble you.

The Biden campaign released a withering ad about your experience in South Bend ahead of the New Hampshire Primary, comparing it to the former vice president’s own experience. Did it take some effort to get beyond that to endorse him?

No, it’s just politics. Obviously, I didn’t love it, but I also understood what they were trying to do, and it’s an example of learning not to take something too personally.