Gov. John Hickenlooper weighed in on the state of presidential politics in the wake of Donald Trump outlasting the field of Republican candidates to become the presumptive nominee this week.

Hickenlooper, a Democrat, said the success of Trump, along with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, was a reflection of the uneasiness and distrust felt by many voters, at a Wednesday press conference at the state Capitol.

“I think it reflects a deep, deep frustration for a lot of people in this country that, as a country, we haven’t been able to get back, and they’ve lost their career, they’ve lost their jobs, and they haven’t gotten retained in the new jobs that are emerging,” Hickenlooper said. “There’s just a lot of people out there that feel the system is rigged. I think the support that Bernie Sanders has had comes from that as well — it benefits wealthy people and big corporations.”

While Hickenlooper maintained the frustration is real, he suggested that Trump isn’t the answer for the issues facing those left behind as the economy changes.

“I think his success is a reflection of that frustration. I don’t think he’s the right choice for a variety of reasons, and I’m not alone in that,” Hickenlooper said, referring to conservative columnist George Will’s recent article declaring that a Trump nomination would doom the GOP.

When it comes to wooing Sanders and his supporters or moderate Republicans who don’t think they can vote for Trump, Hickenlooper said it was up to him and other Hillary Clinton supporters to make a compelling case why they’re supporting the former secretary of state for president.

“In the end most of the people who believe in this country, believe in the state of Colorado — sometimes you make a vote not for someone that you agree with in every direction, and many cases people you might violently disagree with, but Hilary has shown herself to be a moderate,” Hickenlooper said.

“Some (Sanders supporters) will have a hard time just because they’re so dedicated to some of his positions,” said the governor, a so-called superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention and a top Clinton supporter. “I have to do a better job justifying my support for Hillary to those same people, and I accept that. And part of it is you have to look in yourself and say, why is it that Hillary will be so good. What is it that they haven’t heard yet, and what might let them shift their opinion?”

In addition to offering his take on the political landscape, Hickenlooper took a trip down memory lane with reporters.

The governor started his press conference showing off a 1986 photograph of a younger version of himself taken during a road trip out west. While driving in Arizona’s Piñon Desert in a convertible, Hickenlooper’s traveling companion snapped a picture of the future governor spitting water above his head while traveling 60 mph.

“That’s what happens when you spit water straight up” while traveling that fast, Hickenlooper said.

Hickenlooper said he stumbled across the photograph while preparing for a temporary move into the governor’s residence while his Park Hill home is undergoing renovation.

— ramsey@coloradostatesman.com