Klobuchar Withdraws From VP Consideration. Here's Why

She says Joe Biden should choose a woman of color
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 19, 2020 12:01 AM CDT
Updated Jun 19, 2020 6:27 AM CDT
Klobuchar Withdraws From VP Consideration. Here's Why
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., wears a face mask as she arrives for a Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 11, 2020.   (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, Pool)

Now is not the time for Amy Klobuchar to be the vice presidential candidate. That's why the senator from Minnesota has officially pulled her name from consideration as Joe Biden's running mate, NBC News reports. "America must seize on the moment and I truly believe—as I actually told the VP last night when I called him—that I think this is a moment to put a woman of color on that ticket," Klobuchar said on MSNBC Thursday night. "And there are so many incredible, qualified women. But if you wanna heal this nation right now ... this is a helluva way to do it." Biden has already promised to choose a woman, and said he hopes to announce a decision by August 1.

After George Floyd was killed during an encounter with police in Klobuchar's state, she came under fire for failing to prosecute cases of police brutality when she was the chief prosecutor for Hennepin County. CNN notes she won the position by promising to be tough on crime, and that Democrats have long been concerned about her inability during her time on the job to deal with racism in the police force. Questioned about that scrutiny Thursday, Klobuchar said that if she had in fact been chosen as the VP nominee, "I think I could've functioned fine and there's a lot of untruths out there about my record and now is not the time to debate those." NPR notes that women of color including Kamala Harris, Stacey Abrams, Susan Rice, Florida Rep. Val Demings, and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham have been floated as VP contender possibilities. (More Election 2020 stories.)

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