Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Wednesday defended her decision to call for the resignation of Sen. Al Franken, dismissing reports that the move could cost her nascent 2020 presidential campaign the support of wealthy Democratic donors.

Franken (D-Minn.) resigned last year under the weight of a flurry of accusations of sexual misconduct that predated his tenure on Capitol Hill. The former “Saturday Night Live” writer was considered a rising star in the Democratic Party and his name had been mentioned as a potential 2020 presidential candidate.

Franken’s resignation came shortly after Gillibrand became the first Democratic lawmaker to publicly call for it. That push from the New York senator, soon echoed by more than two dozen other Senate Democrats, has made her a controversial figure in some Democratic circles, where Franken’s resignation was seen as an unnecessarily harsh consequence relative to the allegations against him.

“I just couldn’t stay silent. My job was not to stay silent, I couldn’t defend it and I had to do what was right,” Gillibrand said Wednesday. “And if some wealthy individuals, that makes them angry, that’s on them.”

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The New York Democrat jumped into the 2020 fray by announcing Tuesday that she was forming an exploratory committee. At a news conference Wednesday, she was asked whether Democratic donors, among whom Franken was popular, had pushed back on a potential bid over concerns that she pushed out Franken.

Last year, POLITICO reported that her stand against Franken could spark a backlash among the Democratic donor class who perceived the move as pure political calculation designed to help her electoral prospects. More than a dozen prominent West Coast, New York and national donors and bundlers said at the time they would never again donate or fundraise for her, or pledged to do so only if she becomes the Democratic nominee for president.

Gillibrand did not say on Wednesday whether she had received pushback from donor, but noted that “it’s been reported in the press.”

Gillibrand has consistently defended her decision to push Franken’s resignation, arguing that the move showed that her values win out even when they lead her to clash with her party. On Wednesday, she again said that the decision was proof that “I will stand up for what I believe in, especially when it’s hard.”