Elizabeth Warren defends Amy Klobuchar for forgetting the name of Mexico's president

Last week, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) was asked by a reporter if she could name the president of Mexico, and after thinking about it, responded, "No." This came back to haunt her during Wednesday's Democratic debate, but a fellow candidate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), had her back.

Klobuchar said that she doesn't believe "that momentary forgetfulness actually reflects what I know about Mexico and how much I care about it," and reminded the audience that she is "the one person on this stage that came out first to say I was for the U.S.-Mexico-Canadian trade agreement that is going to be one of the No. 1 duties of the president, to implement that." Forgetting Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's name was "an error," she continued. "I think having a president that is maybe humbled and able to admit that here and there maybe wouldn't be a bad thing."

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg responded that Klobuchar is "staking your presidency on your Washington experience," and not knowing a world leader's name was bad form. "Are you trying to say that I'm dumb?" Klobuchar snapped. "Or you're mocking me?" Buttigieg responded that he is "saying you shouldn't trivialize it."

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That's when Warren jumped in. "This is not right," she said. "I understand that she forgot a name — it happens. It happens to everybody on this stage. You want to ask about whether or not you understand trade policy with Mexico? Have at it. And if you get it wrong, you ought to be held accountable for that. ... But let's just be clear, missing a name all by itself does not indicate that you do not understand what's going on. I just think this is unfair."