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Amy Klobuchar avoids question about becoming Joe Biden's vice president

'I'm just doing my work right now'

Graig Graziosi
Tuesday 03 March 2020 16:52 GMT
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Senator Amy Klobuchar ducks question about vice president possibility

Senator Amy Klobuchar has dodged a question about whether she’d consider becoming former vice president Joe Biden’s running mate should he receive the Democratic party’s nomination.

The Minnesota Senator dropped out of the primary race on Monday and endorsed Mr Biden. Since then, former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Texas Representative Beto O’Rourke have also endorsed Mr Biden in an effort to shore up establishment Democrat support for the former vice president ahead of Super Tuesday.

Appearing on “Today,” Ms Klobuchar was asked by host Savannah Guthrie if she would consider joining Mr Biden as his running mate, should he win the party’s nomination.

“I’m just doing my work right now. I am one day out of having left my own campaign,” she replied, giving no indication of whether she’d consider or not. “I’m going back to Minnesota to celebrate the work with our staff. That’s where my focus is.”

Ms Klobuchar said she chose to endorse Mr Biden because of his “decency.”

“I think he has the decency that’s exactly what we need right now in the White House and a heart that just isn’t there right now,” she said.

On Twitter, Ms Klobuchar said that Mr Biden “knows you, and he’s going to fight for you.”

Prior to dropping out, Ms Klobuchar was predicted to win Minnesota’s primary on Super Tuesday after a close race with Senator Bernie Sanders. It remains to be seen whether her voters will divide between Mr Sanders and Mr Biden or if a significant portion float to Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Mr Sanders campaigned in Minnesota on the same day Ms Klobuchar dropped out, calling for supporters of the senator and for supporters of Mr Buttigieg to join his campaign.

In a video captured by CBS News correspondent Tim Perry, former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg spoke to reporters about the recent narrowing of the field, telling them he was “in it to win it” and that he “felt sorry” for those who dropped out.

“I talked to Pete earlier today and Amy a little while ago. I wish them all the best, I thought both of them behaved themselves - is a nice way to phrase it. They represent their country and their states very well. And I felt sorry for them,” Mr Bloomberg said.

Ms Klobuchar says she was not pressured to drop out, but did so because it was “the right thing to do.”

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