It was April 2017, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) had just kinda-sorta accidentally endorsed former Rep. Tom Perriello to be the next governor of Virginia.

Perriello was in a tight contest with the favorite, then-Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam , for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Warren was promoting her book, This Fight Is Our Fight, and was asked for her thoughts on the race in an interview with HuffPost.

I think that if hes governor, hed be terrific, Warren said of Perriello. Pressed if she meant it as an endorsement, Warren responded: Kinda sounds like one, doesnt it?

If it was an endorsement, it wasnt one Warren had planned on making and she quickly reached out to Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner of Virginia, both of whom were backing Northam, to make that point, according to a Warren aide. Her team quickly reassured Northams allies that she wouldnt campaign in person or help raise money for Perriello, who was being badly outspent on television, according to two Democrats with knowledge of the discussions. (She did allow the Perriello campaign to use footage of the interview in television ads.)