Klobuchar announces for 2020
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Sunday joined the growing group of Democrats jostling to be president and positioned herself as the most prominent Midwestern candidate in the field, as her party tries to win back voters in a region that helped put President Donald Trump in the White House.
“For every American, I’m running for you,” she told an exuberant crowd gathered on a freezing, snowy afternoon at a park along the Mississippi River with the Minneapolis skyline in the background.
“And I promise you this: As your president, I will look you in the eye. I will tell you what I think. I will focus on getting things done. That’s what I’ve done my whole life. And no matter what, I’ll lead from the heart.”
The three-term senator, 58, is known as a straightshooting pragmatist willing to work with Republicans, making her one of the Senate’s most productive members at passing legislation.
The list of Democrats already in the race features several better-known senators with the ability to raise huge amounts of money — Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kamala Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.
The field soon could expand to include prominent Democrats such as former Vice President
Joe Biden of Delaware and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-colo., hinted in a Sunday morning interview on NBC’S “Meet the Press” that he, too, may pursue a run.
Back in Iowa as a fullfledged presidential candidate, Warren took aim at Trump on Sunday, saying he “may not even be a free person” by next year’s election.
The Massachusetts senator’s comments in Cedar Rapids came a day after Trump renewed his criticism of her past claims of Native American heritage. In a tweet, Trump said, “Today Elizabeth Warren, sometimes referred to by me as Pocahontas, joined the race for President. Will she run as our first Native American presidential candidate, or has she decided that after 32 years, this is not playing so well anymore? See you on the campaign TRAIL, Liz!”
The White House didn’t explain what the president was referring to in his tweet, though some Democrats accused him of making light of the Trail of Tears — the forced removal of Cherokee and several other Native American tribes from their lands in the 1830s. Warren’s campaign wouldn’t say what the senator believes Trump was referencing.
Warren has largely avoided talking about Trump since she began testing the waters for a campaign more than a month ago. During her first of three events Sunday in eastern Iowa, Warren said the president shouldn’t be allowed to dictate the direction of the campaign with divisive attacks.
“Here’s what bothers me. By the time we get to 2020, Donald Trump may not even be president. In fact, he may not even be a free person,” she said.