United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand revealed on CBS' "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" on Tuesday night she was filing paperwork to create an exploratory committee to run for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2020 election, joining the growing field of Democratic candidates, according to Reuters.
Colbert asked Gillibrand, who had recently appeared on his show last year, if she had anything to announce.
“Yes,” the senator from New York said. “I’m filing an exploratory committee for president of the United States tonight.”
Gillibrand, 52, is known for leading the charge to address sexual harassment within Congress and became a prominent voice of the #MeToo movement in Washington D.C.
Once the exploratory committee is formed, she will begin fundraising and organizing for the campaign.
“I’m going to run for president of the United States because as a young mom I’m going to fight for other people’s kids as hard as I would fight for my own,” Gillibrand said to applause.
Gillibrand has hired several top political aides in recent weeks which added to the speculation about her chance in 2020.
"This is a moment in history when none of us can stay silent. We have to rise up and reclaim our lives. At such a time as this, we have to ask ourselves: What will we do?" Gillibrand asked on Twitter. "I'll fight, and I'll fight with everything I have. It would mean so much if you joined me."
Gillibrand won the seat in a special election and has been re-elected to six-year terms in 2012 and 2018.
Gillibrand has used her role to speak out over sexual assault and rape in the military and gender inequality.
She was behind the push for a bill in 2017 to change how Congress addresses and settles sexual harassment allegations made by staffers.
She has also faced criticism for being one of the first to speak out against Democratic Sen. Al Franken, who was accused of groping and kissing several women without their consent.
Gillibrand was also one of the few Democrats who said former President Bill Clinton should have resigned from his role after his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky.
Gillibrand promised not to take any contributions from corporate PACs or federal lobbyists on Twitter, writing: "I'm not afraid to take on Trump, special interests, or any powerful system - never have been."
She has also supported a Medicare-for-all bill that has been championed by progressives and was the first sitting Senator to call for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amid the Trump administration's policy of separating families at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“I believe healthcare should be a right and not a privilege,” Gillibrand told Colbert.
She also promised to "restore what's been lost" to the White House, which included the “integrity and compassion of this country.”
“You have to start by restoring what’s been lost, restoring our leadership in the world, addressing things like global climate change and being that beacon of light and hope in the world,” Gillibrand said.
Gillibrand also vowed to tackle racial inequality and education reform, citing her own experience as a Mom.
So far other Democratic contenders include former U.S. Representative John Delaney, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, former San Antonio mayor and HUD official Julian Castro, and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
-WN.com, Maureen Foody
Photo:
AP / J. Scott Applewhite
