Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says she'll consider a 2020 run

Kirsten Gillibrand.
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/The Late Show)

During a debate two weeks ago, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) pledged that she would serve her full six-year Senate term if re-elected. But now, she's changing her tune and teasing a possible 2020 run.

On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Thursday, the New York senator was questioned about whether she'll run for president in 2020. She said she would give it a "long, hard thought." She explained that this is a "moral question" for her and that she has "seen the hatred and division that President Trump has put out" while traveling across the country. This, she says, has inspired her to "fight as hard as I possibly can to restore the moral compass of this country."

Her impassioned response seemed to be building toward a 2020 announcement, although she stopped just short of doing so, prompting Colbert to laugh and joke that she came "that close." Gillibrand was recently re-elected to a Senate term that lasts until 2025, and she told voters during an Oct. 25 debate, "I will serve my six-year term" — to which her Republican challenger shot back, "Honestly, I don't believe that." Watch Gillibrand's Colbert appearance, which concludes with her 2020 comments, below. Brendan Morrow

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