It’s no secret that U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is a major Hillary Clinton supporter. In fact, it was a speech by former Secretary of State Clinton that first inspired the ex-lawyer to take up public service—she first ran for Congress about 10 years ago. A day before heading to Las Vegas to support Clinton in this election season’s first Democratic debate, Gillibrand was interviewed at Coins2Day‘s Most Powerful Women Summit, where she answered questions about her candidate of choice and others running for president (she’s convinced Vice President Joe Biden will be among them). Here is an edited excerpt from Monday evening’s conversation at the MPW Summit, which runs until Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
Coins2Day: Do you think Hillary Clinton’s email scandal is a fair concern?
Gillibrand: I think Hillary has been very forthcoming and straightforward about the use of her email, and hopefully in the debate we will debate things other than her email. Hillary has said it was a mistake, I think she wishes she didn’t have the separate server. But I think at the end of the day people are concerned about their kitchen table issues: How am I going to send my kids to college? How am I going to afford to start a business? How am I going to afford to have a home?
Do you think [Vice President] Joe Biden will get in the race?
If I was a betting woman, I’d say he would. I think he’s always aspired to it. He’s been a vice president for a long time. He’s been a wonderful public servant who cares deeply about issues, and he’s a champion and he wants to fight for his values and his goals for America.
Do you think Donald Trump could be the [Republican] nominee?
I don’t know. [Laughter ensues from the audience].
What do you make of Carly Fiorina’s campaign?
She’s a strong woman who’s really holding her own in a very, very expansive field. And I think it’s important that women run. I think it’s really important that women show that they have strong values and they’re going to fight for them. I think it’s great for America to have strong women candidates.
Would you like to run for president?
I don’t aspire to it. I feel that the job I have right now is amazing and I feel like I can create national policy as well as create a national debate. And I’m supporting Hillary. I really want her to run, and I think she is the most qualified person we could have running for president today. I’m going to work very hard to see her get elected.
