Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is running for president. CNN reports that Gillibrand made the formal announcement on Sunday with a tweet, accompanied by a two-minute campaign video. The clip reveals that “bravery” will be a key aspect of Gillibrand’s messaging as she embarks on her quest for the Oval Office.
“Our anthem calls America the home of the brave, but we don’t realize that the lyrics first pose it as a question… It asks, ‘will brave win?’ Well, it hasn’t always and it isn’t right now,” she said on the clip.
The video then splices various news footage from the past couple of years, focusing on some memorable Trump administration controversies like the immigrant caravan, the border wall, and the Muslim ban.
“We need to remember what it feels like to be brave,” Gillibrand says, in her voiceover before reminding her viewers of important milestones that the United States achieved, such as the moon landing.
In the video, the senator from New York also explains the issues she’ll campaign on like universal health care, paid family leave, and gun legislation reform. She also shows support for the Green New Deal, an extensive proposal of environmental law reform that’s been championed by freshman Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, among others.
As The Hill reported in January, this isn’t the first time that Gillibrand has expressed support for the proposal. During an appearance on the podcast, Pod Save America, she called the Green New Deal “exciting.”
“We need to tell the American people ‘we are going to have a green economy in the next 10 years, not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard, because it’s a measure of our innovation and effectiveness,’ ” she said.
With her announcement, Senator Gillibrand joins a long list of hopefuls from the Democratic party who are vying for the chance to go up against President Donald Trump in 2020. As People Magazine reported, that list so far includes Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Julián Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Buttigieg, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Jay Inslee, John Hickenlooper, and Beto O’Rourke.
But the Gillibrand presidential run won’t come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to recent news about her. As CNN notes, in January she announced the launch of an exploratory committee into the prospect of a campaign during an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
I’m fighting for an America where we lead with bravery and compassion, not fear and greed—and I’m taking that fight straight to President Trump’s doorstep. Join me at Trump International in New York City on Sunday, March 24: https://t.co/A8rcIQNzaT pic.twitter.com/ySFK92SBpo
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) March 17, 2019
On Twitter, Gillibrand announced that she will speak at the Trump International Hotel on March 24 to formally kick off her presidential run. CNN reports that her team has said that Gillibrand will use the event to explain her “her positive, brave vision of restoring America’s moral integrity” on “President Trump’s doorstep.”
