Sen. Amy Klobuchar backs Kamala Harris for president

CATHY WURZER: Well, as you've heard, most of the big names in Minnesota Democratic politics are now behind a Kamala Harris presidential nomination effort, including, as of this morning, Governor Walz, who threw his support to Vice President Harris, as did second district US Representative Angie Craig. Craig joins Minnesota congressional DFLers Ilhan Omar and Betty McCollum in supporting Harris.

Representative Dean Phillips, who had a brief and unsuccessful run against President Biden, thinks Harris is, quote, "well prepared to run and beat Donald Trump," but thinks there should be straw polls and town hall meetings to vet other potential candidates. Minnesota senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar are Harris supporters too. Senator Klobuchar, Minnesota's senior senator, is on the line. Thanks for taking the time.

AMY KLOBUCHAR: Well, thank you, Cathy. And a little bit of news for you to cover in the last 24 hours, but I feel a lot of excitement about what's happening. I just want to say, as someone who ran for president, against Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, I respect both of them. And I did want to say about President Biden, he did the honorable thing. He took the honorable path, a very courageous path to do at this point. As you know, this hasn't happened-- I think Lyndon Johnson stepped aside in March of the election year to have his candidacy replaced by Hubert Humphrey.

CATHY WURZER: Right.

AMY KLOBUCHAR: But Joe Biden did this in a way that doesn't just honor his legacy of bringing back the rule of law, and doing all that he can to keep NATO together, and doing so much to get us out of the pandemic, but it also honors the future and passing the torch on to his vice president. And in Kamala Harris's own words, she has to earn it and win it. And that's what you're going to see in the next few weeks.

CATHY WURZER: Clearly, a tough decision for the president because he was under enormous intraparty pressure to step aside. I know you say that he chose the honorable path by leaving the race. But do you have any worries that it might have been too late in coming?

AMY KLOBUCHAR: You know, a lot of countries have actually shorter elections. I just actually did an interview on BBC, another public show, and was asked that same question. I said, why are you guys asking? You've got really short elections in great Britain, and that happens in a lot of places. So I think that the infrastructure is set up through the Biden campaign throughout the country, including in Minnesota, where there's dozens of offices, and Michigan, and Nevada, and Wisconsin. And so you've got that in place.

Then you've got-- I believe you've already seen $50 million raised just yesterday. You're just going to have a lot of excitement, new volunteers coming out, people understanding that the game is on, that it's 105 days. And then finally, you're going to have this speed dating of a vice presidential selection. I was somewhat involved in the last one and understood how long that took with the vetting and multiple phases of interviews.

And if it is Kamala Harris, as it appears it will be although-- as you know, I know you talked to Governor Walz about this-- there's going to be a process involved if other candidates emerge. And that's a good thing. But if it is hers, as it appears it is, she will be picking a vice president. And, fortunately, she knows many of the leading candidates well.

CATHY WURZER: Say, we haven't heard from former President Obama yet, nor other congressional leaders like Senator Schumer or Hakeem Jeffries about the president throwing his support to Vice President Harris. What does that say to you?

AMY KLOBUCHAR: Oh, I think that is understandable for these reasons. I actually talked to Senator Schumer this morning. They were, as you know, behind the scenes, very involved in this. Senator Schumer and Representative Jeffries, or Leader Jefferies and, of course, Leader Pelosi, as well. And so I think part of this was-- this was also about Joe Biden. And they had all closely worked with him. And focusing on him, I think you'll see a transition to focusing on the ticket.

And they also have to address their caucuses. We're just getting back to Washington. There's a lot happening. I really think that was a decision to wait with them. On the President Obama front, in the past he waits until primaries are done. And I will have-- I have absolutely no doubt that, when he does endorse, it will be a big deal, and that he will do it the right way. And so I actually don't mind that they're-- especially President Obama is waiting up there for a while. Because I think you want to have a major embrace of this moment. So I don't see that as a big deal. No.

CATHY WURZER: OK. So don't read anything into it. OK.

AMY KLOBUCHAR: No.

CATHY WURZER: As you mentioned, you ran against Joe Biden and Kamala Harris back in 2020. You were representing the moderate wing of the party. There are some folks who think the vice president is too far to the left. Joe Manchin said that today. Some other big donors think that, too. So what's your view?

AMY KLOBUCHAR: You know, I just don't see her that way. I guess the first thing, we were both former prosecutors. And when you look at her record of public safety during that time in her role as Attorney General of California and before that as a prosecutor, she was pretty tough on crime. That was a matter of focus. So I don't see that as part of her background.

Then I look to her role as a senator. Remember, she was in there when Trump was president. I got to see her effect early. We both cross-examined those nominees for the Supreme Court and some very memorable moments. And she was right. I'd say we-- both of us were right on this front. They ended up being a disaster for things like women's rights.

And so I see her as someone that is a strong, strong leader that's going to go to that debate stage or into that campaign with the receipts. She has the experience to take on Donald Trump. She actually is going to be able to say, hey, I actually questioned those Supreme Court justices that you said you were so proud of, and that you just did a video this year that said, I'm proudly the person responsible, said Donald Trump, for overturning Roe v. Wade.

That is going to be a major difference. She was a prosecutor. He has over 100 felony indictments. That's going to be a major difference. So I see her that way, and then I also look at who endorsed her. People like Mark Warner, a very moderate Democrat, business man. People like Mark Kelly, an astronaut, very moderate from the state of Arizona. So you see her endorsements ranging from progressive to more moderate and conservative Democrats.

CATHY WURZER: Talk for a moment about the significance of possibly having a woman lead the ticket.

AMY KLOBUCHAR: Well--

CATHY WURZER: A woman of color, specifically.

AMY KLOBUCHAR: You know, a that has come again. It is not easy, as I said many times on that debate stage when I was running. And Kamala and I, by the way, started out as friends from our experience in the US Senate, our experience at all those hearings I just mentioned, and ended up as better friends when that presidential race was over. We actually spent the night before Thanksgiving with our families together while we were running against each other. So I got to know her pretty well.

And her husband, Doug, is fantastic. And I think he's actually going to be a good force throughout this thing, because it's never easy running as a woman. There's assumptions that are made and questions that are asked that sometimes male candidates don't have to deal with. Are you nice enough? Are you strong enough? Just these things go through people's heads all the time.

But I think what she's proven over these years is she is steady as they come, you know, working with President Biden to make these monumental decisions about how to get the vaccines out, and how to get our economy going again from what was one of the worst moments in our country's history with the pandemic. And how do we jumpstart things and bring jobs back again? And there's a strong economic case that she is going to be able to make for the work that she did.

CATHY WURZER: Given your presidential campaign experience, harkening back to that, Vice President Harris has a ton of work to do if she's the nominee, especially in the Battleground States. What, in your estimation, would be job one?

AMY KLOBUCHAR: Well, job one is going to be getting out there and making sure everyone knows who she is and understands her strengths. She's been doing that the last year, so it's not like this is something brand new. But she'll be presenting to the nation in a different way. And I think that's really important.

The second thing, because as I noted, we're on this speed dating moment, will be announcing her vice president and doing that process in a very quick way, but in a very smart way, and being able to explain that she's got someone she can trust. She's got someone that augments her skills. And she has someone that she knows can govern.

Then you get to the convention, which is only weeks away, where I think you're going to see her-- that speech will be very important, and making that contrast with what a future would be under Donald Trump. So I just think this is-- actually, what I already noticed when I was in the airport in Minnesota last night-- because the flights were a little delayed, as anyone who's been in the airport knows. I was there for four or five hours.

And there's just a lot-- there was absolutely no doubt there's a lot of excitement. From people working behind the counters at the airports to passengers walking through, I kind of have a full-time focus group and my job in parades and other things about how people are feeling. And I think up until yesterday, you know, people loved President Biden. They still do. They love him even more now.

But there was just-- people just felt like, what is going to happen? This is just going on and on and on. And I think this idea that we have this new future we're charting, a generational change with this ticket, is really exciting to people. And you can see that in those small donations that come in, and you could see it when you just talk to people on the street.

CATHY WURZER: All right. Senator Klobuchar, thanks for your time. We appreciate it.

AMY KLOBUCHAR: Well, it was great to be on, Cathy. Thank you so much.

CATHY WURZER: Thank you. Senator Amy Klobuchar is Minnesota's senior US Senator.