Klobuchar bows out of veepstakes, advocates for ‘a woman of color’
WASHINGTON — Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota announced late Thursday that she was withdrawing from consideration to be the running mate of former Vice President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket.
Klobuchar, who mounted her own campaign for the presidency before dropping out and becoming one of Biden’s most spirited surrogates, said during an MSNBC interview that she called Biden on Wednesday night and told him he should choose a woman of color to be his running mate.
Klobuchar, a moderate and veteran of the Senate like Biden, was known to have a strong rapport with the presumptive Democratic nominee and was an early favorite of a significant number of his donors and supporters. But her case for being Biden’s running mate was badly damaged after the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police officers. The death, which has prompted weeks of demonstrations and protests against police violence across the country, led to renewed scrutiny of Klobuchar’s career as a local prosecutor in Minneapolis.
“After what I’ve seen in my state and what I’ve seen across the country, this is a historic moment and America must seize on this moment,” she said. “I truly believe, as I told the vice president last night, that I believe that this is a moment to put a woman of color on that ticket.”
Reid J. Epstein is a New York Times writer.