Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Comedian Pete Holmes

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Arts, News, Wnyc, Books, David, Storytelling, Society & Culture, Yorker, New, Remnick

4.2 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 May 2019

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand been fierce on the issue of sexual assault and harassment, especially in the military and government; as a champion of the MeToo movement, she was among the first Democrats to call for Senator Al Franken to step down. Some in the Party, she has claimed, are still angry with her over it, and have withheld donating to her campaign. Gillibrand tells David Remnick that her experience as a female politician will be a strength if she were to face Trump in the general election. “My first two opponents were in a 2-to-1 Republican district, who demeaned me, and name-called me, and tried to dismiss me. And not only did it make my candidacy relevant, but it made it got a lot of people deeply offended, and they wanted to know who I was and why I was running.” Trump’s “Achilles heel,” she says, “is a mother with young children who’s running on issues that . . . families care about. His kryptonite is a woman who stands up for what she believes in and doesn’t back down.” Plus, a visit to “Interfaith Alley” at New York’s Kennedy Airport with the comedian Pete Holmes, who lost his evangelical faith but not his passion for the way religions give life meaning.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From One World Trade Center in Manhattan, this is the New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of the New Yorker and WNYC Studios.
0:09.1	And I want to thank everyone that's gathered here today. Thank you for being here.
0:15.4	Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick.
0:18.8	Senator Kirsten-J Gillibrand launched her presidential campaign
0:22.2	outside the Trump Hotel in Manhattan, attacking the president in front of one of his
0:27.1	gold-lettered buildings. It's not a bad way to get some attention. Our president is a coward.
0:42.4	Thank you. is a coward. And that is not what we deserve.
0:45.8	That is not what you deserve.
0:51.1	Jilla Brand is not so well known outside of New York.
0:54.2	She represented a congressional district upstate, and she came to the Senate in 2009, filling Hillary Clinton's former seat.
1:01.6	Ever since, she's been fierce on the cause of sexual assault and harassment and a champion of the Me Too movement.
1:08.1	She was one of the first to call on Senator Al Franken to step down,
1:12.2	and some in her party, she says, are still absolutely furious with her over it. In other ways,
1:18.2	Gillesibrand's policies have, let's say, evolved. Her A rating from the NRA some years back is now
1:24.9	a solid F. And like other centrist Democrats in the race, she's taking pains to
1:30.4	emphasize her support for progressive policies like Medicare for All. I reached Kirsten Gillibrand
1:36.4	in Washington last week. Senator, we now know that Robert Mueller was not exactly thrilled by the
1:43.3	handling of his report by the Attorney General.
1:45.9	And he felt that he had been, if we can summarize it, distorted at best. What do you feel about it?
1:52.1	And how do you now feel about the case for impeachment? Well, I am deeply concerned, and I've
1:58.5	been concerned with how Attorney General Barr handled the Mueller report
2:02.8	overall. You have to remember, the first thing he did that he shouldn't have done is issue the
	...

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