Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg Really Don't Like Each Other
Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg are in each other's way. Klobuchar, one of Minnesota's senators, pulled off a better-than-expected third-place performance in New Hampshire, while former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Buttigieg turned out surprisingly strong showings in both there and in Iowa. The two moderates both benefitted from former vice president Joe Biden's collapse, but now they're in direct competition to be the biggest centrist still in the race. And at Wednesday's debate, they had knives out for each other.
The first tussle came when Buttigieg took a shot at Klobuchar over a recent foreign affairs fumble. It seemed to be a callback to an earlier feud: Klobuchar has gone after Buttigieg's inexperience like the jugular before, saying at the debate in Iowa earlier in February, "We got a newcomer in the White House and look where it got us." In interviews with Telemundo, both Klobuchar and billionaire Tom Steyer, who failed to make the qualifications for the latest debate, failed to name Mexico's current president— Andrés Manuel López Obrador—with Klobuchar resorting to referring to them as "they" at one point as she appeared unsure whether or not the president was a man or a woman.
"You’re staking your candidacy on your Washington experience," Buttigieg said on to Klobuchar on Wednesday. "You’re on the committee that oversees border security. You’re on the committee that does trade. You’re literally in part of the committee that’s overseeing these things and were not able to speak to literally the first thing about the politics of the country to our south."
That set Klobuchar off. "Are you trying to say that I’m dumb?" she asked. "Or are you mocking me here, Pete?"
Not knowing López Obrador's name is certainly embarrassing, especially given Klobuchar's credentials—and part of Buttigieg's overall message is that, despite his relative inexperience on the national stage, he's the best choice because he's the smartest candidate. But as the youngest candidate in the race who also touts his academic credentials and polyglot status, that approach runs the risk of coming off as an ambitious teacher's pet, which Klobuchar might have been trying to evoke with her "are you trying to say that I'm dumb" comment. Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren later stuck up for Klobuchar, saying, "Can I just defend Senator Klobuchar for a minute? This is not right. I understand she forgot a name. It happens. It happens to everybody on this stage."
Buttigieg went after Klobuchar again, this time on immigration rather than foreign affairs: "If you're going to run based on your record of voting in Washington, then you have to own those votes, especially when it comes to immigration. You voted to confirm the head of Customs and Border Protection under Trump, who is one of the architects of the family separation policy. You voted to make English the national language. Do you know the message that sends in as multilingual a state as Nevada to immigrants?"
To drive his point home, Buttigieg completed his comments in Spanish, telling DREAMers that "this country is your country too." As he finished, Klobuchar shook her head, saying, with simmering contempt, "I wish everyone was as perfect as you, Pete."
She continued: "I'm actually so proud of the work I have done on immigration reform. And you know what? You have not been in the arena doing that work. You've memorized a bunch of talking points and a bunch of things, but I can tell you one thing. What the people of this country want, they want a leader that has the heart for the immigrants of this country, and that is me."
Buttigieg replied, "You know, maybe leading a diverse city that was facing ruin doesn't sound like the arena to you. I'm used to senators telling mayors that senators are more important than mayors, but this is the arena, too. You don't have to be in Washington to matter. You don't have to be on Capitol Hill for your work to be significant."
That exchange highlights another aspect of the feud between the two candidates. Klobuchar has been a senator from Minnesota for 12 years now, while Buttigieg served two terms as the mayor of a city of about 100,000 people after winning election with 10,000 votes over his opponent's 2,000. Klobuchar has mentioned before that when Buttigieg has run for even state-wide office, he's lost badly, and she did so again on Wednesday. From Buttigieg's talking points, he seems to have anticipated that angle.
When the debate ended, Klobuchar gave a wide berth to Buttigieg, who was positioned next to her for the entire debate, refusing to shake his hand. At one point during Buttigieg's comments, Klobuchar could be seen brusquely reshuffling her notes. Perhaps she was looking for any oppo on Buttigieg she neglected to mention—or maybe she was looking for stray paper clips to use as a weapon in the absence of any binders to throw.
They were an all-star crew. They cooked up the perfect plan. And when they pulled off the caper of the century, it made them more than a fortune—it made them folk heroes.
Originally Appeared on GQ
