Klobuchar gets ready to take on Trump

Video Credit: Reuters Studio
Published on January 14, 2020 - Duration: 01:03s

Klobuchar gets ready to take on Trump

Democratic presidential contender Amy Klobuchar sat down with Reuters to make the case that her mix of practical policy priorities, humor and blunt talk is what Democrats need to win back the White House in the November election from Republican President Donald Trump.


Klobuchar gets ready to take on Trump

Amy Klobuchar is banking on a strong showing in Iowa's first-in-the-nation nominating contest on February 3 to jump-start her path to the party's nomination.

The moderate U.S. senator from Minnesota is polling in fifth place with Iowa voters.

"I just have to keep defining myself so people understand who I am," Klobuchar told Reuters.

"And I have been the same person from the minute I got in public service.

I like to tell the truth.

I can be blunt sometimes and I think that's what we need right now in someone running against Donald Trump." If she breaks through in Iowa, Klobuchar could join a long list of candidates - including Barack Obama - who trailed in the polls there but ultimately won or placed high enough to succeed in other states and secure the nomination.

On a policy level, Klobuchar's positions on hotbutton issues such as healthcare place her more toward the center than rivals Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

"Sometimes compared to some of my colleagues, that may be more moderate in tone," she said.

"But I think that's a good thing because people know who the loudest voice in the room is, and that's Donald Trump.

And a lot of those people who are trying to decide who to vote for, some of them are the ones that turned down the volume and mute the TV when he comes on because they don't want to have their kids hear what he's going to say." Klobuchar has barnstormed all 99 Iowa counties.

She is betting that relentless campaigning and a wealth of policy knowledge peppered with quips and jokes will rouse enough support to keep her campaign alive.

And she is already thinking about how to take on Trump.

"I think, first of all, you have to have that ability to make a joke or poke at him or just show how absurd he is, because he does use humor.

A lot of people, including myself, just don't always think it's funny, but you got to remember that.

So just meeting it without, I would say, some animation and some humor I think is a problem," she said.

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