‘It’s Just Disappointing’: Kirsten Gillibrand Says She Can’t Embrace Trump’s ‘Popular’ Ideas Because He’s Mean

Democratic New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said during a Wednesday podcast that she struggles to back President Donald Trump’s “popular” ideas because she believes he is cruel.

Trump has championed policies with broad public support, including barring biological males from female sports, deporting illegal immigrants and cutting government waste. Gillibrand, on “On Brand with Donny Deutsch,” acknowledged the popularity of Trump’s agenda, but criticized his style, which she said was mean and “divisive.”

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“Interestingly, when he first ran last time, he ran on a lot of Democratic ideas. Like he ran on middle-class tax cuts and he ran on paid leave. He was much more of a Democrat then,” Gillibrand said. “And I feel like he got shut down on a lot of the bipartisan things he wanted to do in his first presidency by the Republicans around him. And he’s really leaned into this populism, which is, as is typical, populism is popular.”

“And what has been hardest for a lot of people like me to deal with is that he’s so disingenuous. He doesn’t mean it. And he says things that could be popular with everyone, but then does it in the meanest, most divisive way possible,” she continued. “And he just takes that oxygen out of the room every time. So it’s just disappointing. You want a president to be a president for all people and he keeps choosing not to be that guy.”