“I will stand up for what I believe in,” declared New York Democrat and new presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand last week. There’s just one problem.
According to her critics, what Gillibrand believes shifts significantly depending on what office Gillibrand is pursuing at the moment. As a member of the House of Representatives, for instance, she earned an A-rating from the NRA, a grade that would later drop to an F when she joined the Senate.
It’s not just on guns. Gillibrand has shifted her positions on same-sex marriage, on Wall Street, and on immigration so much that she now bears little resemblance to the conservative Democrat that upstate New York sent to Congress in 2006.
This came to a head during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. She has said that President Trump’s immigration policies are “racist.” He asked how they differed from what she believed in 2008.
“You said you were, quote, a firm opponent of giving, quote, amnesty to illegal aliens. You said English should be the official language of the United States. You called for expediting deportation of undocumented immigrants,” Tapper reminded Gillibrand.
“I know you have very different positions today, but if Trump’s immigration positions are racist, were they racist when you held some of those positions as well?” Tapper asked.
Gillibrand had changed, and Gillibrand admitted as much saying that after reflection she “realized things I had said were wrong. I was not caring about others. I was not fighting for other people’s kids the same way I was fighting for my own, and I was wrong to feel that way.”
Tapper noted that evolved conviction, but asked again whether there was a difference between her past lack of empathy and Trump’s current accused racism.
Gillibrand’s response: “I think what he’s done is so horrible and so mean-spirited that I am nothing like him and never will be because my values haven’t changed. I will fight for other people’s kids as hard as I will fight for my own.”
This after admitting that her initial opinions were lacking in empathy. It was an unflattering exchange, and it is one that will likely repeat itself as more Democratic candidates enter the race.
