Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota projected confidence that Democratic caucusgoers in Iowa will understand if the Senate impeachment trial extends through Monday’s caucuses, saying they will forgive her for not being in the state.
“I don’t really care how long it takes because we have a constitutional duty. You may have heard the rumor today about this going into next week, and I’ve got a few other things going on at the same time,” Klobuchar told reporters Friday. “My view is the people of Iowa and beyond will understand. … I have a job to do.”
Klobuchar has surged in early state primary polls in recent weeks, but like her primary rivals Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, her ability to capitalize on that momentum has been stunted by having to sit in the Senate impeachment trial rather than campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire. She sits in fifth place at 9.6% in the RealClearPolitics average of Iowa polls, below the 15% viability threshold to earn delegates to the Democratic national convention.
“There’s even rumors that the proposed schedule means that we will be here on Monday, the day of the Iowa caucuses, and I just say, ‘Bring it on,'” said Klobuchar, 59. “I just have faith in the people of the country — they actually want someone with the experience of standing up and not just saying, ‘I’ll turn the channel and watch some cartoons.'”
To get around being stuck in Washington, Klobuchar has hosted “tele-town halls” with over 35,500 Iowans, and her daughter Abigail Bessler is campaigning on her behalf in Iowa. The Minnesota senator also made a quick mid-week stop in Iowa on Tuesday evening, the only juror who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination to do so in the midst of the trial.
Klobuchar reiterated that she would like witnesses to be called in the impeachment trial and wants to examine the case thoroughly immediately.
“This isn’t one of those things that we’re going to find out the truth in five years. We are going to find out the truth in five weeks, or maybe even in five days,” Klobuchar said.
