Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) was unable to name Mexico’s current president during an interview last week while campaigning in Nevada.
Klobuchar, Tom Steyer, and Pete Buttigieg were interviewed by Telemundo News in segments that aired Thursday night, but only Buttigieg was able to recall the name of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
“What I will tell you is that I will visit Mexico in the first 100 years – 100 days,” Klobuchar said when she was asked what she knew “about the Mexican president.”
“What do you know about the Mexican president now?” the moderator proceeded to ask.
“Well, I know he was elected in the last few years. I don’t know him personally. I’ve met with the ambassador and I was actually supportive of the trade agreement so I worked with the embassy on that,” she replied.
“Do you know anything about him? Specifically his politics, what he’s doing, since this would be the country you would share a border with,” the host then said.
“I know that they are our neighbors and regardless of who the leader is that it is someone that I will work with,” responded the presidential hopeful.
“I’m sorry to ask this, but do you know who he is? Do you know his name?” the host asked.
“Yes, I know that he is the Mexican president,” said Klobuchar, who was again asked to provide his name.
“No,” Klobuchar admitted.
Like Klobuchar, Steyer said that he could not remember the Mexican president’s name.
— PoliticsVideo23 (@politicsvideo23) February 16, 2020
The Telemundo News interviews were conducted after a presidential town hall hosted by the League of United Latin American Citizens in Nevada, according to a local Fox affiliate. Klobuchar, Buttigieg, and Steyer were the only candidates to attend the town hall in person, but Sen. Bernie Sanders participated via video conference.
Nevada has half a million eligible Hispanic voters out of nearly 1.6 million active registered voters, according to the outlet. The state’s caucuses will take place February 22 and Sanders was leading in the most recent poll by seven percentage points.
The candidates will debate in Nevada on February 19 and only Sanders, Klobuchar, Buttigieg, Joe Biden, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren have qualified to participate.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun and The Ohio Star. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to anthony.gockowski@gmail.com.
Image “Amy Klobuchar Interview” by Noticias Telemundo.