WASHINGTON — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) told Stephen Colbert on Tuesday’s “Late Show” that she was forming a presidential exploratory committee, the latest Democrat to move toward a bid for the White House.
Gillibrand chose to make the announcement on Colbert’s show, reflecting the influence and national reach of the late night host. He’s become a favorite stopping point for politicians who harbor national ambitions.
“I’m filing for an exploratory committee for president of the United States tonight,” she said.
Gillibrand joins Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in forming an exploratory committee. Last weekend, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro launched his presidential bid. John Delaney, a former congressman from Maryland, entered the race in 2017.
Gillibrand was appointed to the Senate in 2009 to replace Hillary Clinton after she resigned to become secretary of state. She was elected to a full six-year term in 2012 and reelected last year.
Asked by Colbert why she was running, Gillibrand said that “because as a young mom I am going to fight for other people’s kids as hard as I would fight for my own. That is why I believe that healthcare should be a right and not a privilege. It is why I believe better public schools for our kids because it shouldn’t matter what block you grow up on. And I believe that anyone who wants to work hard enough should be able to get whatever job training they need to earn their way into the middle class.”
She said that none of that can be accomplished unless you take on “the systems of power which make all of that make all of that impossible, which is taking on institutional racism, which is taking on the corruption and greed in Washington, taking on the special interests that write legislation in the dead of night.”
“I know that I have the compassion, the courage and the fearless determination to get that done.”
Gillibrand, 52, is one of the most visible Senate advocates for the MeToo movement, and drew some heat from fellow Democrats and donors when she was the first to call on Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to resign. Franken had been accused of inappropriately touching women.