was he felt he still had something to contribute and something to tell us, and he certainly did. linda, i also wanted to ask you about this idea that the court sort of shifted around him, which is the way that he described it. he never described himself as having changed in his position on the ideological number line or having become more liberal, even though he was nominated by a republican by a republican president and ultimately was seen as a leader of the liberal wing. what was he like in terms of comity among the justices, in terms of, you know, as as the makeup of the court changed during his decades on the bench. what was he like in terms of putting together majorities, putting together consensus, what was he like in those conferences with the other judges? well, i think in the early years the sort of knock on him was that he was a go it alone kind of justice. he just said what he thought was the right thing to say. he had a number of famously
states senate. why is she running? why is she running in this field? how does she distinguish herself in this field? and what s it s like to have her here on the rachel maddow show ? joining us now for the interview, senator kirsten gillibrand of new york. thank you so much for coming in, senator. my pleasure. thank you for having me. well, congratulations on your announcement, and thank you for not beating around the bush and saying i m considering talking about my about it. you re just flat-out rung. yes. tell me about that transformation i was just describing there. i think a lot of people watching the show tonight certainly flow your name, certainly know some stuff about you. but there has been an evolution in the perceived sort of place your perceived place on the number line in democratic politics. tell me than change. so ten years ago when i became senator of new york state, i recognized i didn t know everything about the whole state, and one of the first thing i di
announcement, and thank you for not beating around the bush and saying i m considering talking about my about it. you re just flat-out saying i m running. yes. tell me about that transformation i was just describing there. i think a lot of people watching the show tonight certainly flow your name, certainly know some stuff about you. but there has been an evolution in the perceived sort of place your perceived place on the number line in democratic politics. tell me about that change. so ten years ago when i became senator of new york state, i recognized i didn t know everything about the whole state, and one of the first thing i did was travel to brooklyn, and i met with family who had just lost their daughter, a teenaged girl who was shot with a stray bullet. and when i met nyasia s parents and her classmates and realized the pain and suffering they were going through, i just knew i was wrong, and i knew i had to do something to make sure that young beautiful girl did not die
supporting president trump in the streets. there have always been violent extremist groups on the ragged edge of american politics, right? anti-abortion extremists who turn to bombs and snipers to kill people to try to get their way, to kill doctors. left wing groups in the 70s who carried out bombings of their own, hijackings, even prison breaks. puerto rican groups shot up the u.s. capitol in the 1950s. more modern iterations of the klan persist to this day. and violent cults and sovereign citizens. violent extremism, people who celebrate violence for its political effect, they have always been with news this country. or they ve always been off to the side of us, right? they re here, but usually way off the number line in terms of what counts as american politics. right now, though, we are experiencing something a little bit different, which is that we are now seeing the formation of new groups, aggressive groups that recruit aggressively, and
extremist groups on the ragged edge of american politics, right? anti-abortion extremists who turn to bombs and snipers to kill people to try to get their way, to kill doctors. left wing groups in the 70s who carried out bombings of their own, hijackings, even prison breaks. puerto rican separatist groups shot up the u.s. capitol in the 1950s. more modern iterations of the klan persist to this day. and violent cults and sovereign citizens. violent extremism, people who celebrate violence for its political effect, they have always been with us in this country. or they ve always been off to the side. they re here, but usually way off the number line in terms of what counts as normal american politics. right now, though, we are experiencing something a little bit different, which is that we are now seeing the formation of new groups, aggressive groups that recruit aggressively, and that openly celebrate violence as their m.o.