Commentators from across the political spectrum ruthlessly mocked The New York Times editorial board for its reality-TV style endorsement process, which resulted in the endorsements of both Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren.
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Minnesota voters began casting their votes early Friday in the state’s first presidential primary since 1992.
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A progressive powerhouse in Minnesota politics has endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders for president over hometown candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
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Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign announced Tuesday that the Democratic billionaire will make a campaign stop in Minnesota to discuss policies for people “shortchanged by Donald Trump.”
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Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) said she was “outraged” with President Donald Trump for his decision to “assassinate” Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, a designated terrorist organization.
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WASHINGTON – Seven leading U.S. Democratic presidential candidates squared off in a spirited debate late Thursday, with quick attacks on the newly impeached President Donald Trump as the most corrupt leader in the country’s history.
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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has endorsed (again) Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont for president, straying from a pack of Minnesota politicians who are supporting hometown candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar in the race. “Kamala, Julien [sic] and Pete all did very well. Elizabeth showed why she is a true leader; champion of working families everywhere. But Bernie Sanders dominated both nights with the force of ideas, which have been consistent throughout his service. I support him—like I did last time,” Ellison wrote on Twitter early Friday morning after the second night of Democratic debates. Kamala, Julien & Pete all did very well. Elizabeth showed why she is a true leader; champion of working families everywhere. But @BernieSanders dominated both nights with the force of ideas, which have been consistent throughout his service. I support him – like I did last time. — Keith Ellison (@keithellison) June 28, 2019 Ellison was one of the first members of Congress to support Sanders’ 2016 bid for the presidency. Sanders, in turn, supported Ellison in his run for DNC chair in 2017, and his 2018 campaign for his current role as Minnesota’s attorney general. Ellison told The Star Tribune that his endorsement of…
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Ten Democratic presidential candidates took to the debate stage in Miami, Florida Wednesday night for the first of a two-night event. President Donald Trump weighed in on the debate with just one word: “BORING!” BORING! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2019 He later criticized NBC News after moderators Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow had to cut to a commercial break to deal with microphone difficulties. “NBC News and MSNBC should be ashamed of themselves for having such a horrible technical breakdown in the middle of the debate,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Truly unprofessional and only worthy of a FAKE NEWS organization, which they are!” .@NBCNews and @MSNBC should be ashamed of themselves for having such a horrible technical breakdown in the middle of the debate. Truly unprofessional and only worthy of a FAKE NEWS Organization, which they are! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2019 Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) represented the Midwest during the first round of debates. Klobuchar highlights Early on in the debate, Klobuchar earned a round of applause after taking a shot at Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who said he was the only candidate on stage who had…
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by Kyle Hooten Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar’s campaign posted an agenda to Medium Tuesday for her first 100 days in office, should she win the 2020 presidential election. Several measures to relax immigration law rank among her top priorities. The Minnesota Senator stated she would also rejoin the Paris Agreement, ban “assault weapons,” raise the minimum wage and promote socialized medicine. Last February, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over the immigration crisis. In doing so, he “used authority provided by Congress to access up to $3.6 billion in military construction funds provided by Congress” to secure the southern border, according to a White House release. “Senator Klobuchar will rescind [Trump’s] national emergency declaration,” and bar the use of military construction funds on the southern border, her Medium post states. In addition to diverting money away from border security, Klobuchar hopes to actively increase refugee intake. “Under President Trump, the State Department has dramatically lowered the annual cap on the number of refugees that can be resettled in the United States. Senator Klobuchar will direct the State Department to restore the cap to at least its pre-Trump Administration level,” her agenda reads. She further vows to “put…
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Amy Klobuchar addressed the controversial story about John McCain mentioning dictator names during President Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration on Jimmy Kimmel Live. During her Tuesday late-night show appearance, Kimmel asked the Minnesota Senator about McCain story she told last weekend. “Now you told a story at one of these rallies this weekend that I found so interesting about the late Senator John McCain,” Kimmel said. Klobuchar said McCain was referencing parts of the speech and mentioning dictator’s speeches during the inauguration. In addition, McCain referenced these dictators because he was concerned “about what this meant with this president,” according to the presidential candidate. She would not mention what dictator names the late Senator repeated to her and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. “I think the point of the story was that John McCain was a student of history and so he knew what was coming,” Klobuchar said. “He knew these cries for isolationism, what that meant if we don’t stand with our allies, what that meant for America’s standing in the world. And that’s what he was doing. He had said things similar to this publicly as well.” As the Minnesota Sun reported earlier this week, McCain’s daughter and View co-host…
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Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar revealed an unusual detail about what deceased Arizona Senator John McCain said during President Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration. Klobuchar told an Iowa crowd Saturday that McCain kept saying dictator names to her during Trump’s 2017 inauguration speech, according to CNN. This conversation happened while Klobuchar sat between Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and John McCain, according to the Huffington Post. “I sat on that stage between Bernie and John McCain, and John McCain kept reciting to me names of dictators during that speech because he knew more than any of us what we were facing as a nation,” Klobuchar said. “He understood it. He knew because he knew this man more than any of us did.” McCain played an important role in spreading the fake Steele Dossier, which claimed the Russian government had damaging information about Trump. The Daily Caller reported that David Kramer, a former associate of McCain, provided the dossier to reporters from several media outlets. In unsealed court filings, Kramer said McCain gave a copy of the dossier to former FBI Director Jim Comey. “I think they felt a senior Republican was better to be the recipient of this rather than a…
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar jumped from one percent to three percent between April and May in Monmouth University’s monthly polling, which her campaign called “huge news.” “There’s huge news in a new Monmouth poll. As more people learn more about Amy, her bold plans for our country, and how she’ll address the problems Americans face, they’re putting their support behind her,” a recent fundraising email from Klobuchar’s campaign said. “Polls go up and down, but this new Monmouth data confirms what we’re seeing on the ground: big crowds, great enthusiasm, and a surge of grassroots donations from Americans who want Amy to be our next president,” the email added. The poll, conducted by Monmouth University’s Polling Institute between May 16 and May 20, had Klobuchar polling at three percent overall. The poll, however, did show significant gains for female candidates, who received a combined 27 percent of support among Democratic voters, up from the 16 percent they received in April. “Women are commanding a larger slice of Democratic support than they were a few weeks ago and we are seeing bumps in their individual voter ratings,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. “We can’t parse out…
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Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar refused to take a position on late-term abortions during her appearance on The View. During Friday’s television appearance, View host Meghan McCain asked Klobuchar about her position on the topic. Late-term abortions have been a controversial issue recently after the comments Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam made on this issue. The presidential candidate side-stepped this question by saying she is for “a woman having the right to make a choice about her own body.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-_IOULlCzc As McCain asked another question, Joy Behar, McCain’s View co-host, came to the Klobuchar’s defense by saying “it is so rare” for late-term abortions to occur. “I don’t think it should be that hard to say ‘I’m not for late-term abortion,’” McCain said after not getting a direct response from Klobuchar. However, the Minnesota senator did address her concern for Roe v. Wade being overturned as Alabama and Missouri have recently passed laws tightening their state abortion laws. “They are taking us backward and they are basically criminalizing doctors when they do this,” Klobuchar said. She said there has been an “assault” on women’s health because of efforts to defund Planned Parenthood and take away the Affordable Care Act. “The…
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar spent the weekend visiting with leaders in Puerto Rico and repeatedly attacked President Donald Trump for his response to Hurricane Maria ahead of her visit to the U.S. territory. “A lot of it has to do with this president, who continually wants to look at Puerto Rico in a different way when in fact there are citizens there, there are people, this is a U.S. territory. And he’s someone who just wants to look at them and let them go, I guess,” Klobuchar said on Rachel Maddow’s show Thursday night. Joined @maddow last night to talk about what it's like to run for president and why I'm headed to Puerto Rico pic.twitter.com/HSSl6zZUq3 — Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) May 10, 2019 “You have people that need so much help, that lost everything—that lost their homes, that lost their hospitals, that lost their schools,” she continued. “We respond. We don’t just let them out. We did it when New Jersey needed help, we helped them. When North Dakota needed help with Grand Forks and that flood, we helped them. We come together as a nation.” “This president just looks for divides,” Klobuchar concluded. “He wants to blame people in…
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar joined Fox News Wednesday night for a town hall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a state Hillary Clinton famously skipped during the 2016 election. According to Fox News, the network allows candidates to select the location for their town halls and Klobuchar picked Milwaukee, which will also host the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was the first to join Fox News for one of its town halls, and it was later reported that candidates were “flocking” to the network, even after the DNC announced in March that Fox News would not “serve as a media partner for the 2020 Democratic primary debates.” Moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum covered a number of topics, but began by asking Klobuchar if she agrees with the House Democrats’ vote to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt. “Yes, the Attorney General is the people’s lawyer,” Klobuchar responded, saying “he should be showing up and answering questions.” Klobuchar said that although the economy is doing well, when “you go out there and talk to real people, they feel like they’re not sharing in this prosperity.” “There are jobs out there, we know that,” she said. “But it’s become harder…
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by George Rasley The official entry into the Democratic Party’s presidential sweepstakes of former Vice President Joe Biden means the two leading presidential candidates of the party of “woke” are two old white males, and the number three candidate is, wait for it, a young white male. So, what happened to the party of breaking the glass ceiling and empowering women? This year’s Democratic presidential primary field is full of female candidates, but most of them barely register as a blip in the polls and, except for California’s Far-Left Democratic Senator Kamala Harris, none of them are raising the kind of money necessary to be competitive with Biden, Sanders, O’Rourke and Buttigieg. Adherents of gender politics will no doubt claim that the main reason none of the female candidates is breaking out is because they have an embarrassment of riches – there are too many good female candidates in the Democratic primary field, and they are splitting up the feminist vote. They can go with that if they want to, but we have a more reality-based analysis: It turns out that claiming to be inspired by Eleanor Roosevelt, but sounding and voting like Margaret Sanger, is not a formula…
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by Grace Carr Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar tried to stand apart at a CNN town hall Monday evening in Manchester, New Hampshire, emphasizing differences between herself and the slew of Democratic candidates running for president. Klobuchar repeated, “When I’m president,” angling herself as a candidate who can defeat President Donald Trump because she runs in a purple state and can win back the hearts and trust of the midwest. “I didn’t do that by selling out on my principles,” Klobuchar said, citing her three-time reelection. “It is appalling some of the things that were going on,” Klobuchar said, dodging a definitive answer about whether she supports impeachment of the president after the Mueller report dropped Thursday. “We need to have hearings in both the House and the Senate … The impeachment proceedings are up to the House,” Klobuchar added. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is non-committal on impeaching President Trump: “I’m not going to predispose things” #KlobucharTownHall https://t.co/UQwyP6fkHS pic.twitter.com/G66yFWmM24 — CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) April 22, 2019 Democrats are divided over whether to push for Trump’s impeachment. Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been a strong proponent of the move. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, cautions Democrats against such efforts. Klobuchar…
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Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election was officially released to the public Thursday. Reactions from Minnesota’s congressional delegation were predictably divided. Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) said she was “deeply distributed” as she reviewed the report, claiming it has “proved Russian interference in the 2016 election.” “Second, there is ample evidence of attempts by the president to obstruct the investigation and the special counsel left it to Congress to decide whether that amounts to a crime. And the report demonstrates that the lies Trump associated told materially affected the course of the investigation,” Smith wrote in a statement posted to Facebook. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) agreed and pointed out that the report states that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election “in a sweeping and systematic fashion.” “So despite the endless doubts cast by the president, this happened. Case made for my bill for backup paper ballots and post-election audits,” Klobuchar wrote on Twitter. First Page of Mueller report says that Russian government interfered in 2016 presidential election “in sweeping and systematic fashion.” So despite the endless doubts cast by the President, this happened. Case made for my bill for backup…
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2020 Democrats are reportedly “flocking” to Fox News to participate in the network’s town hall events, the next of which will feature Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), the network announced Wednesday. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) Monday night town hall event on Fox News was the most-watched town hall of the 2020 campaign thus far, according to The Daily Beast. More than 2.5 million viewers tuned in for the event, compared to CNN’s recent town hall with Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), which attracted 1.95 million viewers. On the night of the town hall, rival network MSNBC had 1.44 million viewers, while CNN had just 913,000. The event was described as a “ratings smash,” but that isn’t stopping the Democratic National Committee from refusing to partner with Fox News for any 2020 debates. In fact, during a Monday morning interview on Fox News, DNC Chairman Tom Perez said he wouldn’t reconsider the decision. “Here is why we won’t do that. Because I don’t have faith in your leadership at Fox News at the senior levels,” Perez told anchor Bill Hemmer. “I have great respect for Bret and for Chris and for you, but you’ve demonstrated, above your pay grade, they don’t trust…
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Innumerable politicians and commentators came to Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN-05) defense Saturday morning after President Donald Trump tweeted out a video of her controversial remarks at a recent CAIR fundraiser. As The Minnesota Sun reported, Omar delivered the keynote address at CAIR’s March fundraiser in Los Angeles, and faced criticism last week after video from the event showed her describing the 9/11 terror attacks as “some people did something.” On Friday, Trump tweeted a video of Omar’s remarks that was spliced together with footage from the attacks, captioning his tweet with “we will never forget.” WE WILL NEVER FORGET! pic.twitter.com/VxrGFRFeJM — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2019 By Saturday morning, Omar was trending on Twitter along with the hashtag “IStandWithIlhanOmar.” “The video that Donald Trump posted is dangerous, reckless, and I would say criminal,” DFL Chairman Ken Martin said. “For a president to target Ilhan, a member of Congress, is abhorrent to the values of our democracy. No member of congress should have to fear for their safety and his actions cross the line.” The video that @realdonaldtrump posted is dangerous, reckless & I would say criminal. For a President to target @Ilhan, a member of congress, is abhorrent…
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) revealed Monday that her presidential campaign raised $5.2 million in the first fundraising quarter of 2019, which ended Friday. The Minnesota senator currently has $7 million in cash on hand after transferring some funds from her Senate campaign account. Klobuchar announced her candidacy on February 11, meaning she was able to raise the $5.2 million in roughly seven weeks, but the figure pales in comparison to some of her more high-profile competitors. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), for instance, raised $6 million in just the first 24 hours of his campaign. Former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke, meanwhile, raised $9.4 million in the 18 days between announcing candidacy and the close of the quarter, according to Business Insider, which reports that O’Rourke raised $6.1 million in the first 24 hours. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), who declared candidacy in January, raised a total of $12 million, while Sanders led the pack with $18.2 million in total donations. Klobuchar does have a slight lead over Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who raised $5 million since launching his campaign. Dark-horse candidate Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, raised $7 million in the first quarter of 2019. Klobuchar’s campaign said it had nearly…
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Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar released 12 years of tax returns Monday, saying “transparency and accountability are fundamental to good governance.” The Minnesota senator was the latest 2020 contender to make her returns public. The tax returns date back to 2006, when she first became a candidate for federal office. The documents show Klobuchar and her husband, attorney and law school professor John Bessler, paid $62,787 in federal taxes on an adjusted gross income of $292,306 in 2017. Democrats have criticized President Donald Trump for refusing to disclose his tax returns. His financial dealings also have been the subject of investigations. Among the Democratic presidential hopefuls who’ve already released their returns are Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. Other candidates have said they plan to release their returns but have yet to do so. Klobuchar’s returns show how the couple’s income has grown since she was first elected to the Senate in 2006. At that time, Klobuchar was the lead prosecutor in Hennepin County, Minnesota’s largest county, and Bessler was an attorney at a Minneapolis law firm. That year they reported $215,326 in adjusted gross income and paid $41,984 in federal taxes.…
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Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar is pitching an infrastructure plan she says will provide $1 trillion to fix roads and bridges, protect against flooding and rebuild schools, airports and other projects. The plan announced Thursday is the first policy proposal from the Minnesota senator since she joined the 2020 race with a snowy rally not far from where the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River in 2007. Klobuchar speaks often on the campaign trail about the collapse, which killed 13 people, telling voters “a bridge just shouldn’t fall down in the middle of America.” She also talks about how she worked with Republican colleagues to get funding to rebuild the bridge within 13 months. “America needs someone who will deliver on their promises and get things done for this country,” Klobuchar said in a statement Thursday announcing her plan. She said it will be her top budget priority and pledged to pass it during her first year as president. The plan calls for leveraging $650 billion in federal funding through public-private partnerships, bond programs and clean-energy tax incentives. It would restart the Build America Bonds program President Barack Obama’s administration created to help stimulate the economy during the…
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by Henry Rodgers Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a 2020 hopeful, took an apparent swipe at fellow contender Beto O’Rourke, saying while she respects the former congressman, she was not “born” to run for president. “It was probably more when I got to college. When I was growing up, in high school, that’s not what girls thought they were going to do,” Klobuchar said in a Sunday interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “My parents, I think, thought it was a possibility. But I really didn’t. And so for me, it’s something that’s happened over time, as I’ve realized I can do things,” Klobuchar said. “I can get elected to the secretary-treasurer of my high school class. I can move on from there, and so I think it’s something that I didn’t have from birth.” Host Chuck Todd asked if she was referencing O’Rourke’s comment that he feels he was “born to be in” the 2020 presidential race, which he said in an interview with Vanity Fair released Wednesday before launching his official bid. “I have a lot of respect for Beto, and it’s great to have some Texas in this race. But no, I wasn’t born to run for office, just because growing…
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2020 Democratic contenders descended upon Iowa over the weekend, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who made stops in Dubuque, Waterloo, and Independence. “I followed the Mississippi River down from our snowy announcement and ended up in Dubuque! Great conversations with Iowans who are looking forward to 2020,” the Minnesota senator wrote on Twitter. I followed the Mississippi River down from our snowy announcement and ended up in Dubuque! Great conversations with Iowans who are looking forward to 2020. pic.twitter.com/ut8V71DnKW — Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) March 16, 2019 Politico’s Elena Schneider was on the ground following Klobuchar across the state and reported on a humorous gaffe Klobuchar made while visiting Dubuque. “Everyone has to clap for that,” Klobuchar told a crowd gathered for the campaign stop, immediately prompting comparisons on Twitter to Jeb Bush’s infamous “please clap” moment. Klobuchar started the day by stumping for Eric Giddens, the Democratic candidate in a Tuesday State Senate special election who was also joined by Democrat Beto O’Rourke Saturday. .@amyklobuchar in Waterloo for canvass launch for Eric Giddens, State Senate special election candidate. pic.twitter.com/5DUraIogRs — Elena Schneider (@ec_schneider) March 16, 2019 During a stop at a Pizza Ranch in Independence, Klobuchar was asked about the…
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by Henry Rodgers Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar defended reports about treating her staff poorly, saying she is tough enough to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin if elected president. Klobuchar was one of the first Democratic senators to announce her candidacy for the 2020 presidential campaign. The Minnesota Democrat made the announcement on Feb. 10 in her home state. After her announcement, reports broke that she has a history of being rude to staff, making many of her employees cry, as well as reportedly hitting one of her staffers with a binder. “If you are a boss, you have to have high standards, and that is what I have always had. And that doesn’t mean it’s a popularity contest all the time,” Klobuchar said in an interview with CNN released Thursday. “And so I’ve had high standards for myself, high standards for our staff, and mostly I’m going to have high standards for the country.” Klobuchar also said whoever is going to be president next needs to be “tough” in order to deal with Putin. “When you’re out there on the world stage and dealing with people like Vladimir Putin, yeah, you want someone who’s tough. You want…
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Former Grand Wizard of the KKK David Duke called Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) the “most important member of the U.S. Congress” in a Thursday tweet. Duke’s statement comes amid a tumultuous week for the House’s Democratic majority, which struggled to unite around a resolution condemning Omar’s anti-Semitic comments. As The Minnesota Sun reported Wednesday, House Democrats were prepared to vote on a resolution that was drafted in response to Omar’s controversial comments, but the vote ultimately fell apart after Omar’s progressive allies rallied to her defense. Now, Democratic leaders have prepared a new resolution that broadly condemns all forms of hate, which was overwhelmingly passed late Thursday afternoon. Throughout the affair, Duke, a fervid anti-Semite, praised Omar for her criticisms of the Israeli state. “Ilhan Omar is now the most important member of the U.S. Congress,” he wrote on Twitter. “I made this provocative statement cause the worst enemy of the USA, Europeans, and the Middle East and the whole world and true peace are the Zionist tyrants who rule media and politics. Sadly, this 100lb girl has more guts than any white member of Congress.” https://twitter.com/DrDavidDuke/status/1103766675223130112 Omar’s Minnesota colleagues struggled to navigate the debate, and some, such as Sen.…
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In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) reflected back on her handling of the sexual harassment allegations against her ex-Senate colleague, Al Franken. Klobuchar, now a presidential candidate, said it “really wasn’t that close a call” when she decided not to speak out against Franken, unlike many of her female colleagues. “We had long talks during that time period, including that day. And I always believed—maybe naively, given what happened—that it would go through the ethics committee. I still believe that was the right thing,” she said. “For some of these things, there should be due process, and I felt like this was one of them.” The three-term Minnesota senator also opened up on her viral exchange with Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings, which many now describe as her ticket to the spotlight. “I really just wanted to get him on the record and answer the question, as opposed to just rage,” Klobuchar said, referencing when she asked Kavanaugh if he’d ever blacked out while drinking. “The click that went on in my mind was, ‘I am not going down there with you. I am going to take the keys away from…
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) spoke Saturday night at the esteemed Gridiron Club dinner in Washington D.C. where she attempted to joke about the recent stories detailing her abusive behavior towards her staffers. The New York Times reported February 22 that, in one instance, Klobuchar berated a staff member who forgot to bring a fork on board their 2008 flight from D.C. to South Carolina. Fork-less, the Minnesota senator grabbed a comb from her purse and began eating her salad with it. Predictably, conservative Twitter had a field day with the bizarre incident, which Klobuchar tried to joke about during Saturday’s event. “How did everyone like the salad? I thought it was OK, but it needed just a bit of scalp oil and a pinch of dandruff—would be a little better,” she told the crowd, according to CNN. The Times article was just the latest in a series of stories alleging that Klobuchar is a demeaning and abusive boss. The Minnesota Republican Party released a statement in response to the allegations. “The record shows that while Senator Amy Klobuchar represents Minnesota, she clearly doesn’t fit the ‘Minnesota Nice’ persona,” Minnesota Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan said in early February. “Last year,…
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by Jason Hopkins Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar quickly apologized to Hillary Clinton after making a not-so-subtle dig at her 2016 campaign strategy. Presidential hopeful Klobuchar revealed during her 2020 announcement on Feb. 10 where her first campaign stop would be: Wisconsin. “Because, as you remember, there wasn’t a lot of campaigning in Wisconsin in 2016,” she stated to reporters at the time. “With me, that changes.” The reference to the state — which Clinton notably ignored during the 2016 election — was meant as evidence that the moderate senator from the Midwest would run her campaign differently. However, the line drew ire from Clinton’s inner circle and prompted Klobuchar, who had just visited with her three days prior, to reach out to the twice-failed presidential candidate and apologize. Upon making the offensive remark, Klobuchar conducted damage control by hastily sending Clinton an email and then followed up with an apology over the phone. The senior senator from Minnesota claimed her remark had been misinterpreted and was not meant to be offensive, The New York Times reported Tuesday. News of the behind-the-scenes apology comes as Klobuchar has faced other uncomfortable headlines since launching her presidential campaign. Numerous former Klobuchar…
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Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), a former Planned Parenthood executive, is proudly defending her vote against a bill that would protect babies who survive botched abortions. “Colleagues, that’s what this bill does. It would give the politicians in this room the power to make medical decisions for women and their families. This bill intimidates providers and forces physicians to provide inappropriate medical treatment, even when it’s not in the best interest of the patient or her family,” Smith said during a Senate floor debate Monday. Lawmakers shouldn't dictate what doctors can or cannot do to deliver the best medical care for women. We need to continue to trust women & their doctors. I took to the Senate floor today to talk about this, & I will continue to make my voice heard for women in MN and our nation. pic.twitter.com/9bwJYRBoyT — Senator Tina Smith (@SenTinaSmith) February 25, 2019 She went on to argue that the bill, if passed, would “put doctors in an untenable position” of being forced to decide between following “the law” or their “code of professional ethics.” “Colleagues, let’s get out of the business of dictating medical care for women. Let’s continue to trust women and their doctors,”…
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) made her first campaign stop Saturday morning in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, a state 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton skipped visiting. Klobuchar spoke to a crowd of about 300 supporters at SHIFT Cyclery and Coffee Bar where she repeated several themes from her announcement address, but also promised to bridge the rural-urban divide. “That was one of the points I wanted to make by coming to Eau Claire. Eau Claire is a place of a great university and education. It is also in the middle of a rural area,” she said, calling herself the “Senator next door.” Packed house ahead of @amyklobuchar’s first campaign stop at an Eau Claire bicycle and coffee shop pic.twitter.com/i9NiYm4W15 — Torey Van Oot (@toreyvanoot) February 16, 2019 “I came here because I am the ‘Senator next door’ and I will be traveling to every single state in the Midwest,” Klobuchar said, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and touted her family’s roots in Wisconsin. “I am so pleased to be in Wisconsin, the state where my mother was born,” she said. “And my mother’s parents, actually, both came here from Switzerland. My grandma came here when she was three. And what do you…
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) announced her presidential campaign Sunday, and her early poll numbers don’t look good. According to Morning Consult, Klobuchar is currently in seventh place among potential Democratic candidates with just three percent of the vote. She ranks behind, in order, Former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX-16), and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ). She leads Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who both have just two percent of the vote. Morning Consult surveys 5,000 registered voters each day, and updates its polling on a weekly basis. Its latest numbers come just three days after Klobuchar announced her candidacy. As The Minnesota Sun reported, Klobuchar announced her run for the presidency at a rally Sunday on the banks of the Mississippi River. “So today, on an island in the middle of the mighty Mississippi, in our nation’s heartland, at a time when we must heal the heart of our democracy and renew our commitment to the common good, I stand before you as a granddaughter of an iron-ore miner, as the daughter of a teacher and a newspaper man, as the first woman…
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by Molly Prince Washington, D.C. — Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown was unable to explain on Tuesday what would differentiate his possible presidential candidacy from fellow Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who recently launched a bid for the presidency. “Well, I don’t know,” Brown replied when asked during a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor what would be the difference between his campaign and Klobuchar’s if they were to both seek the Democratic nomination in 2020. Brown, who like Klobuchar, hails from the midwest, was confronted with the similarities between the demographic that they both appeal to such as blue collared workers, white collared workers and anti-Trump Republicans. [ RELATED: Sherrod Brown Embarks On ‘Dignity Of Work’ Tour In Key Primary States ] “I will calculate all that but I um, I like Amy. I think Amy brings something, everybody brings something to the table. That’s not in any way to diminish her,” Brown said. “Um, she brings something to the table, a little different from, a little different and differently, from the others.” Brown noted that while Klobuchar has had electoral success, she is not from a swing state like Ohio because Minnesota has “gone to the Democrat…
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MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota–Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) officially declared her candidacy for President of the United States Sunday during a snowy rally on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. Several of her Minnesotan colleagues spoke before her, including Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D-MN) and Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN). Klobuchar’s Senate counterpart, Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), touted Klobuchar’s record of supporting Planned Parenthood, and criticized Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh for his alleged failure to adequately address Klobuchar’s line of questioning during his confirmation process. Prince, naturally, was invoked several times throughout the event and one of his former collaborators, DJ Dudley D, emceed the occasion. https://twitter.com/AGockowski/status/1094671348801175552 “Hey, if Prince could do that halftime show in all that rain, I can do this in this snow,” Klobuchar joked. Despite the blizzard-like conditions, Klobuchar managed to attract a massive crowd that was estimated at around 9,000 people. She began her address by thanking her “amazing and incredible team and staff for putting this together.” Leading up to her announcement, Buzzfeed News and Huffington Post released separate reports detailing Klobuchar’s abusive behavior toward her staff, which included claims that she “yelled, threw papers, and sometimes even hurled objects.” Klobuchar’s speech “We are gathered…
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-MN) advance crew was busy prepping Saturday afternoon for her “big announcement” scheduled for Sunday. An early visit to Boom Island Park showed staffers moving in and out of heated tents while they erected a stage with the Minneapolis skyline as a backdrop. Temperatures were slightly above zero early Saturday and those on the scene were decked out in snow gear, making it unlikely that Klobuchar would subject her staff to freezing wintry weather to announce that she isn’t in fact entering the 2020 race. Plus, Klobuchar’s daughter flew in from New York City for Sunday’s event, and posted a video from Boom Island Park Saturday afternoon. “My mom invited me to this big announcement happening Sunday, but she forgot to tell me it was happening outside,” she said. Abigail here! I'm taking over mom's Twitter for a second with a message about tomorrow. Go to https://t.co/Hz91NGmwT1 for more details! pic.twitter.com/dmk4l54EDD — Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) February 9, 2019 Klobuchar boasted that the event will have hot “cocoa,” “camp fires,” “music”—”the whole bit.” The Sunday announcement will come amid multiple reports that Klobuchar runs an abusive and demeaning office, as The Minnesota Sun reported. It’s widely known that the…
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Two of Minnesota’s most prominent politicians, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN-04), are backing the controversial Green New Deal, but Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) is conspicuously missing from the list of House sponsors. The House version of the resolution currently has 67 co-sponsors, including McCollum, who has received $52,733 in campaign contributions from environmental groups over the course of her career, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Klobuchar, who is expected to declare candidacy for president Sunday, is one of 10 co-sponsors of the Senate resolution, which has the backing of other presidential hopefuls, such as Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ). The Center for Responsive Politics estimates that Klobuchar has received $220,463 from environmental groups throughout her career. Omar is a public ally of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14), the resolution’s chief author, and was an early advocate of the Green New Deal. Omar, however, currently isn’t listed as a co-sponsor of the resolution. She addressed her support of the Green New Deal in a statement Thursday, but seemed to take issue with the fact that it is just a resolution rather than actual legislation. “We need to…
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It’s been just three days since Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) teased her upcoming “big announcement” and the national media have already released two damning reports about the Minnesota senator’s behavior toward her staffers. Earlier this week, Huffington Post reported that at least three people declined jobs on Klobuchar’s prospective presidential campaign because of her poor reputation with her staff. Now, Buzzfeed News has reviewed dozens of emails and spoken with anonymous ex-staffers to find that Klobuchar “ran a workplace controlled by fear, anger, and shame.” According to that report, Klobuchar “yelled, threw papers, and sometimes even hurled objects,” often leaving employees in tears. Klobuchar would allegedly berate employees in emails sent in the middle of the night over “minor mistakes, misunderstandings, and misplaced commas.” “Anything could set her temper off, they said, and it was often unpredictable. Among the things that staffers said had prompted outbursts from Klobuchar: minor grammar mistakes, the use of the word ‘community’ in press releases, forgetting to pack the proper coat in her suitcase, failing to charge her iPad, and using staples,” Buzzfeed News reports. One former staffer said that when she hears “the descriptors of our current president and how he lacks responsibility and…
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Democrats vying to challenge U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 election moved quickly to attack his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, saying it lacked substance and did nothing to unite the country. About 10 Democrats have already launched campaigns to challenge Trump, and a dozen more could enter the race for their party’s nomination. U.S. Senator Cory Booker, who announced his own bid last Friday, said Trump’s call for unity on Tuesday was hollow. “It takes more than a nod to unity at the top of a speech to bring our country together. Our president has spent the last 2 years trying to drive us apart,” he wrote on Twitter. “Actions speak louder than words.” Stacey Abrams, who fell just short in her bid last year to become the first African-American and first woman governor of Georgia, delivered the official Democratic response to Trump’s speech. Sponsored But many of the party’s presidential hopefuls chimed in afterward with their own critiques. “He wasn’t moving us forward and rising to the challenges of the day,” Senator Amy Klobuchar said on MSNBC. She also hinted at a likely run for president, saying she would hold a rally in Minnesota…
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Every member of Congress gets one guest ticket for the annual State of the Union address, and it’s often used to score quick political points. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05), for instance, invited Linda Clark, an immigrant from Liberia who is at risk of deportation because of President Donald Trump’s decision to terminate the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) program. “Clark came to the United States in 2000, after fleeing Civil War in her home country of Liberia,” a press release from Omar’s office explains. “As a result of Trump’s decision, thousands of Liberian Americans could be removed from the U.S. at the end of March if DED is not renewed. Minnesota is home to the largest community of Liberian Americans of any state in the nation.” Omar said that Clark is “exactly the type of Americans success story we should celebrate,” calling her “someone who came to this country seeking a better life, played by the rules, and built a life for herself.” “I am pleased to have her join me at the State of the Union and urge the Trump Administration to renew DED status for Liberian Americans,” Omar said. “The president himself has expressed open hatred towards people fleeing…
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Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) was the only elected official to speak at this year’s Women’s March Minnesota, and was invited to speak despite the organization’s recent condemnation of “those who have engaged in anti-Semitic, anti-woman, and anti-LGBTQ hate speech.” The national Women’s March has been roiled by controversies surrounding anti-Semitic comments made by its leaders, one of whom attended an event hosted by Louis Farrakhan as recently as last year. In response, Women’s March Minnesota issued a January 10 press release “reevaluating its ties to Women’s March, Inc.” “Women’s March Minnesota does not and will not tolerate the language or practice of hate,” the group said. “We will not tolerate anti-Semitism, racism, misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia and we condemn these expressions of hatred in all forms.” The group went on to claim that it was “charting a new course into what 2019 looks like for Women’s March Minnesota.” But during its annual march Saturday, the only elected official to address attendees was Omar, who has been dealing with charges of anti-Semitism of her own, as The Minnesota Sun reported. “We fight because we recognize that women’s rights are civil rights. This June will mark a century since the 19th Amendment was…
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The Minnesota Republican Party called out Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Tuesday after she indicated that she is leaning towards launching a presidential campaign. But during her 2018 Senate reelection campaign, Klobuchar promised to finish her full six-year term if reelected. “Of course I will. I think my track record shows that. I love working in the Senate. I love representing Minnesota,” she said during a debate with opponent Jim Newberger. Klobuchar has repeatedly indicated that she’s considering a run for the White House, and during a Tuesday interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe all but announced that she’s running. “I also said I wanted to talk to my family, so big news today—my family is on board, including my in-laws, showing some momentum. But I will make this decision on my own course, regardless of what other candidates are doing,” she said. “I think what America wants is someone that is going to make their own decisions, that’s not going to be influenced by every tweet out from the White House or what happens every single day in the news. I think they need a president that’s there for them in the long haul,” she added. The Minnesota GOP responded in…
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) issued a statement Wednesday night after she and her Democratic colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee were apparently denied meetings with President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, William Barr. Barr is set to testify before the committee this week, but it is already shaping up to be another controversial nomination process. Klobuchar says she has concerns about an unsolicited memo Barr sent to the Justice Department in June 2018 in which he raised doubts about the scope of Robert Mueller’s investigation. “Mueller should not be permitted to demand that the president submit to interrogation about alleged obstruction. Apart from whether Mueller [has] a strong enough factual basis for doing so, Mueller’s obstruction theory is fatally misconceived,” Barr wrote. Klobuchar told Rolling Stone that she has additional concerns with Barr’s alleged failure to submit all of his ethics reports to the Senate Judiciary Committee. When she and her colleagues sought to meet with Barr to discuss these concerns, Klobuchar claims they were brushed off. “I tried (as did Blumenthal) to get meeting w/AG nominee Barr and was told he couldn’t meet until after hearing. The reason given? The shutdown. Yet shutdown didn’t stop him from other…
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by Natalia Castro Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith are running to maintain their seats this November. While both are leading in the polls, their race has not been without controversy. In Americans for Limited Government’s latest issue advocacy ad, they highlight the hypocrisy surrounding Klobuchar and Smith’s alignment with controversial political figures Al Franken and Keith Ellison. By refusing to call out violence against women in their own party, even within their own state, Klobuchar and Smith have proved they are more invested in party politics than doing what is right. Klobuchar became a national name during the nomination process for now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh was subject to unsubstantiated sexual misconduct claims that dragged out his nomination process for weeks. Klobuchar became one of his fiercest critics and an adversary during the hearing process. Smith also called upon constituents to “rise up” and “use their voice” against Kavanaugh on the steps of the Supreme Court. Smith and Klobuchar advocated against Kavanaugh, despite an FBI investigation which was unable to verify his alleged victim’s story and bodies of evidence supporting Kavanaugh’s denial of events. Meanwhile, in these Senators’ own state of Minnesota, two high profile political…
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar squared off against her Republican challenger State Rep. Jim Newberger at the Minnesota State Fair Friday, sparring over issues of immigration and President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Immediately out of the gate, Klobuchar boasted a record of being the lead sponsor on 18 different bills signed into law by President Trump. “You need someone that can find common ground but is also willing to be a check and balance on this administration,” she said, representing a state that is growing increasingly purple as 78 out of its 87 counties went to Trump during the 2016 Election. Newberger, who worked as a paramedic for 30 years before seeking office, argued that it is time for a fresh face in Washington, suggesting that Klobuchar is a prime example of why Congress needs “term limits.” “Eighteen years folks is a long time to be in the swamp,” he said, claiming earlier in the debate that he will be a voice for the “moderate-middle to the conservative right.” “You have not had a voice for almost a decade. Folks, it’s time that you had a voice. It’s time you had a senator…
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Each year, the Minnesota State Fair looks more and more like a political convention, but this year fair-goers seem to have had enough of the politicization of the Great Minnesota Get-Together. Both major parties, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party and the state GOP, have booths at the fair with their respective candidates for elected office campaigning all day long throughout the fairgrounds. DFL candidate for governor Rep. Tim Walz and his running mate Peggy Flanagan chronicled their adventures at the fair on Twitter, posting of video of Walz delivering “Sweet Martha’s Cookies” to the GOP booth. “Minnesotans can show this nation that our politics doesn’t need to be narrow and divisive. It can be inclusive, it can be hopeful, it can be visionary, and it can be about one Minnesota gathering together,” Walz said to a crowd of fair-goers. Kicking off the Minnesota State Fair with a visit to the @MinnesotaDFL booth! Together, we can make our vision for #OneMinnesota a reality. pic.twitter.com/Tg52inyLEG — Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) August 23, 2018 Walz’s opponent, Republican Jeff Johnson, is also making his presence known at the annual gathering, which broke its opening day attendance record Thursday with 122,695 Minnesotans in attendance. “Excited to be…
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The latest poll out of Suffolk University shows that Republican gubernatorial candidate Jeff Johnson (pictured, left) trails his opponent Rep. Tim Walz (pictured, right) by only five points in the race for Minnesota’ governorship. The poll, conducted between August 17 and August 20, surveyed 500 Minnesotans on their opinions of candidates running in the upcoming gubernatorial and senatorial races, all of which are guaranteed to be high-stakes races for the typically blue state. Recurring physical and mental health issues have sidelined Gov. Mark Dayton, who will not seek reelection, leaving the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party endorsement open for Rep. Tim Walz, who is leading Johnson by a small margin of five points, according to Suffolk. In the governor’s race, Minnesota voters ranked healthcare as the most important issue facing the state, with gun control measures placing near the bottom at just 4.8 percent. The economy and taxes both tied for second at 16 percent. Among those polled, 47 percent answered that they are “extremely interested” in the race,” while another 32 percent responded that they are “very interested.” 90 percent of respondents said they will “almost certainly” vote in the upcoming midterm elections. Looking at the two Senate races in Minnesota,…
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