In a new interview, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) lamented the fact that three white men are ahead in the polls to be her party’s presidential nominee in 2020.
CNN host Van Jones talked up Gillibrand and her fellow female 2020 aspirants but noted the latest CNN poll shows three white men in the lead. The top choice was former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), and Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who lost his Texas Senate bid and will be leaving Congress in the new year.
"I did notice in that poll that the top three were, I think, Biden, Bernie, and Beto: three B’s, and all white guys. In a party as diverse as ours, does it worry you to see the top three being white guys?" Jones asked Gillibrand.
"Yes," Gillibrand replied.
"I aspire for our country to recognize the beauty of our diversity at some point in the future, and I hope someday we have a woman president," she added.
She also recognized the importance of racial diversity in the party, saying, "I love the fact that Barack Obama was our president."
"I love the fact that Barack Obama was our president for eight years. I hope more people of color, not only aspire, and win the presidency, because that's what makes America so extraordinary, that we are all of that. We are everything, and I think a more inclusive America is a stronger America," she said.
Gillibrand is exploring a run for president in 2020 but believes there are other viable candidates, touting some female Democratic colleagues in the Senate as "better than Trump."
"They have to be better and they're all better than Trump. So one of us will be the nominee. One of us, of any of the people who are considering it, will be the nominee, and whoever that person is, I will promise you all of us will be helping that person," she said, even though she also said it was worrisome that white men were leading in the polls.
She said she has a vision for America based on love for each other.
"I have a vision for America about what’s right in the world. I do believe we should fight for each other’s kids as hard as we fight for our own. I do believe that we should restore the Golden Rule and actually care about one another," she said.
The New York Democrat said she is not sure whether she needs to run for president to best effect her vision for the country.
"So I have that vision. And so, the question is, do I do that from a presidential platform or do I do it from the U.S. Senate?" she said. "And that is the question I will decide very soon."