Amy Klobuchar on Bloomberg’s 2020 bid: Voters won't 'buy it'
November 24, 2019
Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Sunday dismissed multibillionaire Michael Bloomberg’s candidacy for president moments before it officially began, saying the American people aren’t going to “buy it.”
By the time the presidential candidate from Minnesota appeared on ABC’s “This Week,” it was clear: Bloomberg, a former New York mayor, was joining the already-crowded Democratic field, his large bank account in tow. The first of his television ads — part of an initial $34 million buy — was already circulating on social media.
“I just don't think people are going to buy it, that you just ... put a bunch of money,” she said. “Maybe the argument is, ‘Hey, I’ve got more money than the guy in the White House.’ I don't think they're going to buy that.”
“I think they want someone different,” she added.
Less than an hour after Klobuchar's TV appearance, Bloomberg made it official. In a statement released Sunday morning, he centered his campaign on defeating President Donald Trump in the general election while also presenting himself as an alternative to former Vice President Joe Biden.
“We cannot afford four more years of President Trump’s reckless and unethical actions. He represents an existential threat to our country and our values,” Bloomberg said.
Klobuchar has positioned herself as a moderate Democrat, competing with the likes of Biden and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg for the centrist lane and criticizing some of her top 2020 rivals for promising what she calls aspirational policies, such as "Medicare for All." Earlier this month, she swiped at Bloomberg — now competing in that centrist lane with her — for thinking he could “waltz in” and declare the rest of the field insufficient.
Still, on Sunday, Klobuchar brushed off the threat his run might pose.
“We welcome everyone to the race,” she said. “People keep coming and going. And I keep steadily going up.”
Source: https://www.politico.com/
