Speaking Wednesday evening during a CNN town hall in Atlanta, 2020 Democrat presidential candidate and former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper said that diversity is likely the United States’ “greatest strength.”

A partial transcript is as follows:

QUESTIONER: We are at a critical time in history that asks those of us who are white or male to hold the door open for women, people of color, people in the LGBTQ community, and other minorities. We have good, qualified Democrats running who fit these descriptions. Why would someone vote for you over a woman or minority candidate?

HICKENLOOPER: I hear that. And, I have my whole life fought for civil rights and equality, equality in operation, in opportunity, equality in economic security. I also recognize that diversity is probably this country’s greatest strength. It’s certainly the greatest strength of the Democratic Party, and I celebrate that. But, as I said, I’m running for president because I think I’ve got a different set of experiences than many people. I’ve been able to bring people together again and again, both when I was in government and in small business, find compromises in places where we collaborate with people that really were feuding.

When I first became mayor, I reached out to all the suburban mayors who hated the mayor of Denver, they hated the city of Denver. [People] said you’re wasting your time. But, in the end, we got all 34 mayors, two-thirds of them Republicans and independents, to unanimously join together and support a tax increase to create the most ambitious trans initiative in the history of the country.