Jan. 16 (UPI) — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., announced Tuesday that she is running for president.
During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the Democratic senator said that she would be filing for an exploratory committee that evening.
“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,” she told the late night host.
She continued by laying out possible campaign promises, stating that she believes “healthcare should be a right and not a privilege” to cheers from the crowd.
The announcement follows the New York Democrat’s hiring of several senior aids late last week, the New York Times reported.
She could begin campaigning as early as this weekend, with Politico reporting that she is planning to visit Iowa over the weekend.
Gillibrand has long been a critic of President Donald Trump, having previously called for his resignation over allegations of sexual misconduct, and is currently vying to see herself compete against him for the presidency in 2020.
However, she first has to win her party’s nomination during the Democratic primary, where she will be going up against Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and others who have already announced their candidacies.
“Tonight I announced that I’m preparing to run for president, because I believe we’re all called to make a difference,” she said in a Tweet. “I believe in right vs. wrong — that wrong wins when we do nothing.”
