Amy Klobuchar had a message to voters at the November 20 Democratic debate: if you think President Trump can’t be taken down by a woman in 2020, just look at how Nancy Pelosi’s ‘beating him’ on the daily.
It’s a line that Amy Klobuchar delivers often, but tonight it carried different weight. The Minnesota senator largely focused her remarks during the fifth Democratic debate on the deep gender parity in politics, especially the need, of course, to see a woman in the country’s highest office. We shouldn’t underestimate any of the four female presidential candidates onstage during the November 19 primary debate, Klobuchar said, because, “If you think a woman can’t beat Donald Trump; Nancy Pelosi does it every day.” Boom! Her one-liner resonated with viewers of all genders, who praised the senator — who doesn’t get much air time — for her quick wit. She makes a good point.
The Democratic debate, this month held in Atlanta, comes in the midst of the days-long impeachment hearings, as the House Intelligence Committee interviews witnesses and hears testimony about President Trump’s controversial phone call with the president of Ukraine. After today, November 20’s damning testimony by EU ambassador Gordon Sondland, who implicated both Trump and Vice President, #PresidentPelosi started trending on Twitter. Per the United States Constitution, should the president and vice president both be removed from office, the Speaker of the House (currently Pelosi) becomes president.
Klobuchar’s remarks about the need for a female president didn’t stop with her Pelosi quip. “Women are held to a higher standard [than men],” the senator said. “Otherwise, we could play a game called, ‘Name Your Favorite Woman President,’ which we can’t do because it has all been men.” Watch her deliver those remarks, and her colleagues reactions, below:
Tonight also marks the third time in US history that all of the debate moderators are female. You read that correctly. The debate, co-hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post, was moderated by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Andrea Mitchell, NBC News correspondent Kristen Welker, and Washington Post reporter Ashley Parker. With four female candidates onstage, it was an historic night.