Amy Klobuchar withdraws from VP consideration, says Biden should pick a woman of color

Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) announced on Thursday night that she has asked former Vice President Joe Biden to remove her name from his list of potential running mates.

Klobuchar told MNSBC host Lawrence O'Donnell that she called Biden on Wednesday and made her request. Biden has said he will choose a woman to be his running mate, and wants to reveal his pick by Aug. 1. He is still in the vetting process, and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are among those under consideration.

There are "so many incredible, qualified women" for Biden to choose from, Klobuchar told O'Donnell, and "this is a moment to put a woman of color" on the ticket.

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Following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis late last month, Klobuchar has faced intense scrutiny over her record as chief prosecutor for Hennepin County, after it was reported that she declined to bring charges in more than 24 cases in which people were killed by police. O'Donnell asked Klobuchar if this would have caused issues on the campaign trail, and she responded, "I think I could've functioned fine and there's a lot of untruths out there about my record and now is not the time to debate those."

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Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.