Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand is campaigning in Michigan. The New York senator is on her bus tour called "Trump Broken Promises."
“I get why you might have voted for him, he said the system's rigged, he said no bad trade deals, he said health care for everybody that's better and cheaper, he really promised the world, but the truth is he never meant it.” Gillibrand says.
Stops are in Oakland County, Flint, and Lansing. Gillibrand's town hall in Oakland County focused on gun violence and getting money out of politics.
Gillibrand says she has a plan for publicly funded elections. A candidate would decide if they would like to be publicly funded, then there would be limits on how much they could receive from donors. She says the system would make candidates talk to all types of voters.
“Too many candidates spend too many hours in ballrooms and fancy living rooms and boardrooms. They need to be in their communities listening to their constituents. Because what makes our democracy strong is when candidates show up in a town hall, just like this.” Gillibrand says.
Jane O'Neil, a voter at the Oakland County event, says she came to hear the candidate in person. She says she doesn't know who she’s going to vote for in fall 2020. But O'Neil says she was impressed with Gillibrand during the televised debate, but seeing her in person impressed her more.
“I wasn’t sure what kind of chance she would have, but now I think maybe she has a real chance at becoming the [Democratic] candidate.” O'Neil says.
Gillibrand says she has a vision for the future to transform the economy. She says greed and corruption in Washington destroys progress. Gillibrand says she wants to put power back into voters' hands by "getting money out of politics."
In response to Gillibrand’s trip to Michigan, the Republican National Committee said in a statement:
“President Trump has delivered on his promises made to the American people with record low unemployment, a roaring economy and trade deals that put America First, so Kirsten Gillibrand’s anti-Trump rhetoric won’t do her any favors in a state the President carried in 2016. Meanwhile, Gillibrand’s continuous flip flopping, flailing campaign and failure to gain any traction in the polls has to have Michiganders wondering if she’ll even be in the race by the time the Democrat debate comes to Detroit in a couple weeks.”
