Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said she doesn’t think female candidates would be taken seriously if they had as little political experience as South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
Buttigieg, a Harvard graduate, Rhodes scholar, and military veteran, has been surging in recent polls. A Quinnipiac University poll of likely Iowa Democratic caucus goers had Buttigieg trailing only Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 19 percent. A Monday New Hampshire poll had the South Bend mayor in third place in the Democratic field.
The New York Times ran an article Saturday about the Buttigieg campaign’s second wind in which Klobuchar seemed to suggest that Buttigieg wasn’t qualified for the presidency.
“Could we be running with less experience than we had? I don’t think so. I don’t think people would take us seriously,” Klobuchar told The Times.
Klobuchar doubled down on her claims in Sunday CNN interview, but did say she thinks Buttigieg would at least be better than President Donald Trump.
“I’m the one from Midwest that’s actually won in a statewide race over and over again,” she told host Jake Tapper. “That’s not true of Mayor Pete. That’s just a fact. I also am someone that’s passed multiple bills as the lead Democrat, important bills in Washington, D.C. He’s had a different experience. We should be able to have those debates about candidates without being accused of being negative.”
The Minnesota senator said she thinks female candidates might be “held to a different standard.”
“But my goal here is to get the best candidate to lead the ticket. I believe that’s me,” she continued.
Klobuchar has qualified for every Democratic debate thus far and clinched a spot in both the November and December debates after polling at five percent in recent Iowa and New Hampshire polls.
Her full Sunday interview can be watched below:
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Klobuchar in Iowa” by Amy Klobuchar.
