Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said Sunday that the Democratic Party would have been “better served by a primary” in 2024 as she reflected on Joe Biden suspending his re-election campaign last year and endorsing Kamala Harris just months before the election.
“You know, everything we look at in a rearview mirror after you lose an election. Yes, we would have been served better by a primary. But we are where we are,” Klobuchar told NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
She added, “I’m not interested in going backwards in time. I’m interested in going forward,” and said that she was focused on “helping the American people” under a Trump administration.
Klobuchar also faced questions about whether Harris’ loss to Trump was a sign that women can’t win presidential elections.
“I hope not,” Klobuchar told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker when asked whether the 2024 election means Democrats shouldn’t nominate a woman for president.
The senator pointed out that women have successfully led other large nations, adding, “And you’ve also seen women in the U.S., incredible mayors, incredible governors. I look in the Senate — for Democrats in the last election, three of the four races where we beat the presidential ticket were women running. In Michigan, women running, in Nevada, women running, in Wisconsin.”
“I know it’s not easy running as a woman,” Klobuchar continued. “If it was, we could play the game ‘Pick your favorite woman president.’”
The senator also dodged a question about whether she’d rule out running for president again.
“I am focused on my job right now,” she responded. “I’m third in leadership in the Senate, and we have a lot to do, and that means making sure people have got their Medicaid, their Social Security, and taking on these Trump tariffs that are hurting the American people and our economy.”
“I want a better America, and I just don’t think that’s how we’re going to get there with this president,” the senator added.
She ran for president for the first time in 2020, competing against over a dozen other Democrats for the party’s nomination, but dropped out in March of that year, ahead of Super Tuesday, the biggest election day on the primary calendar.
After dropping out, Klobuchar went on to endorse Biden, who eventually won the Democratic nomination and the presidency.
If Klobuchar decides to run for the Democratic nomination in 2028, it’s possible she could face some of her former foes from the 2020 race, as other Democrats including former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., are also widely expected to compete again in three years.
Other names often floated as possible contenders for the 2028 Democratic nomination include Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz; California Gov. Gavin Newsom; Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear; Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro; Maryland Gov. Wes Moore; Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut; Rep. Ro Khanna of California; and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
