Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) decided to play the gender card about her 2020 opponent Pete Buttigieg over the weekend. Buttigieg is the mayor of South Bend, Indiana. He's never won a statewide race.
Klobuchar, on the other hand, has won multiple statewide races. She came to the conclusion that Buttigieg is held to a completely different standard because of his gender.
“Of the women on the stage… do I think we would be standing on that stage if we had the experience that [Mayor Pete Buttigieg] had? No, I don’t. Maybe we’re held to a different standard.” - Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Mayor Buttigieg’s qualifications #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/xz0cEH86OZ
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) November 10, 2019
"Could we be running with less experience than we had?" she asked during an appearance on CNN's State of the Union with Jake Tapper. "I don't think so. I don't think people would take us seriously."
It sounded like she had a similar issue with former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has apparently decided to enter the race at a pretty late hour. He filed paperwork for the Democratic primary in Alabama on Friday.
"But I don't think you just waltz in and say, instead of 'I'm good enough to be president,' your argument is the other people aren't good enough—that is not how we've been conducting these debates."
A few weeks ago Klobuchar also mocked Buttigieg for his apparent flip flop on health care. While they both currently oppose the radical Medicare for All plan proposed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, Klobuchar reminded Tapper that Buttigieg once had no problem with it. He endorsed the bill in 2018, leaving her to wonder "if he ever looked" at it. She just wants her competitors "to be honest" about their policy positions.
Klobuchar, Buttigieg, and eight other top contenders will square off at the next DNC debate on Nov. 20 in Atlanta.