Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) said at Wednesday's debate that she had already beaten President Donald Trump by taking a bus tour through the Rust Belt.
After Joe Biden took a question about addressing progressive concerns that he wasn't exciting enough to the farthest left wing of the party, Gillibrand addressed the "people of Michigan" and touted her tour through Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, three states Trump won that Barack Obama carried twice.
"I know exactly how I'd beat President Trump," she said. "I've already done it. I took a bus tour to talk about Trump's broken promises here in Michigan. He promised no bad trade deals. Not only did he not have bad trade deals, he started a trade war with China and he just signed onto another bad trade agreement with NAFTA 2.0, a giveaway to drug companies in Mexico."
She continued, "I took the bus to Michigan, to Ohio, and to Pennsylvania, telling people that he has broken his promises to them. I lifted up their voices, I listened to their concerns, and I offered real solutions. And I've done this before. My first House district I ran in was a two-to-one Republican district. I won it twice, and I haven't lost an election since. So I can bring people together in red, purple and blue areas, but more than that, I can get things done."
During Gillibrand's tour, she told NBC News that she would tell a concerned coal miner about the Green New Deal that it has "bipartisan ideas." She acknowledged the "people of Ohio don't know who I am" during the interview.