Klobuchar knocks Bloomberg late 2020 entry: ‘We have strong candidates’

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), a Democratic presidential candidate, knocked former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s late entry into the 2020 race.

Klobuchar dismissed the Bloomberg campaign’s pitch that the billionaire saw a need for a candidate to take on President Trump. 

{mosads}”I have admiration for the work that he’s done. But I don’t buy this argument that you get in because you say ‘oh everyone else sucks.’ I just don’t,” Klobuchar said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“I think we have strong candidates. I don’t think that any of the polling or the numbers show that people are dissatisfied with all their candidates. They’re just trying to pick the right one,” she added. {mosads}

“So my case is to make that it’s me.”

Bloomberg entered the race on a more moderate stance compared to some of the leading progressive candidates, such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). 

“You seem particularly insulted by Bloomberg’s entry,” NBC’s Chuck Todd asked Klobuchar. “You’re saying hey, I’m the compromise — I’m the one that if [former Vide President Joe] Biden falters, and all of a sudden ‘hey you, you’re getting into my space!’ That’s what you sounded like.”

Klobuchar said she has been setting “that path” from the beginning. 

“That you look people in the eyes, you tell them the truth. That no, we’re not going to give free college to everyone, but we are going to match our economy with the jobs and the education system that we have. I am the one that is the only one on the stage that didn’t get on that bill for kicking people off their current health insurance in four years,” Klobuchar said. 

She also said that she’s “never going to be able to compete with two billionaires” in terms of spending. 

“I’m not going to be able to buy this thirty-some million dollar ad buy,” she said, seemingly referring to Bloomberg.

She added that she’s also “not as well known” as other candidates bringing in more donations, but said she has taken in more than $2 million since the last debate. 

“So we are expanding. We’re opening more offices in Iowa… opening more offices and adding staff in New Hampshire and in the other early states. And that’s because the momentum’s on our side,” she said.