“This is a historic moment, and America must take advantage of this moment. And I truly believe that, I actually told the vice president last night when I called him, that I thought it was time to put a colored woman on the ticket , “Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, told MSNBC Lawrence O’Donnell.
“And there are so many highly qualified women, but if you want to heal this nation now, my party … this must be a great way to do it.”
Biden offered warm words to Klobuchar shortly after his comments to MSNBC.
“Amy – ever since you announced you are running for president in a blizzard, it’s not hard to see you have the courage and determination to do whatever you want,” Biden tweeted. “You know how to get things done. With your help, we will defeat Donald Trump.”
Klobuchar was mentioned for months as a promising vice-presidential candidate because of his middle plea and recognition of his name following his own White House offer. But his prospects have diminished in recent weeks when Biden faced increasing pressure to choose a woman of color as his partner after George Floyd’s death at the hands of police officers.
Floyd’s death in Minneapolis reignited the Democratic Party’s prolonged concerns about Klobuchar’s criminal justice record and the seven years he spent as the top prosecutor in Minnesota’s most populous area, a position he gained by promising to be tough on crime.
Raising questions about his criminal justice record – along with what many see as his inability to handle racism’s longstanding allegations in the Minneapolis police and his failure to file charges against several officers involved in shooting during his time as top. Prosecutors – have led several within the Democrat Party to directly say they will question Biden’s decision and commitment to black voters if he chooses Klobuchar as his partner.
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After suspending his own presidential offer in early March, Klobuchar was the first 2020 prime candidate with a number of delegates announcing he would support Biden.
He insisted that Biden could unite the country and build a Democratic, independent and Republican coalition “because we are not in our party only wanting to add to victory. We want to win big.” In his concession speech, Klobuchar changed his own name to the name Biden. “I think you know you have a house with Joe Biden,” he said, changing the popular stump line.
Biden himself was not committed to choosing a black woman, told CNN’s Bash Fund last month: “There are colored women being considered and there are women from every part of the country being considered because there are many women who are truly qualified who are ready to become president . “
“But I did not make that commitment. I will make the assessment after this group actually went through interviews with all these people,” he said.
Biden said he hopes to choose his partner around August 1.
This story has been updated to include additional reaction and background information.
And Merica from CNN contributed to this report.
