MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript: "Facebook takedowns"
Interview
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
MADDOW: Joining us now is Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, educa2020 presidential candidate. Senator, it`s great to see you. Thank you for being here.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, thank you, Rachel. It is great to be on.
MADDOW: You have had a busy few weeks. You have been getting some good poll numbers and you had a debate performance that you are proud of that seems to have done you some good.
KLOBUCHAR: Yes. We`ve had so much momentum since then. We went on a major bus trip in Iowa and before that, every county in New Hampshire.
MADDOW: Uh-huh.
KLOBUCHAR: And I`ve been picking up more and more endorsements. I have the most endorsements of any of the candidates, for electeds and former electeds in the state of Iowa.
MADDOW: Uh-huh.
KLOBUCHAR: And since then, from regular people, just going into our website at amyklobuchar.com, we have now raised $2 million since the debate.
MADDOW: Since the debate?
KLOBUCHAR: Yes.
MADDOW: OK. So in terms of your strategy here, you have not been up there with Biden and Warren and Sanders as a top-tier candidate, but you have been steady. Again, as I`ve talked to you about this before, you have said, basically, you`re on track that this is the way that you had planned to do. It`s sort of slow and steady wins the race.
KLOBUCHAR: Yes.
MADDOW: Can you put some -- can you put some detail on that? Can you explain to me how this works?
KLOBUCHAR: Well, yes. I mean, I knew that I wasn`t the one that was going to start out with all of the name identification. And I also knew that I would slowly but surely gain. That`s what we`re doing. And part of this is that I believe in politics the way I think you should do it, which is, meeting people, getting people onboard, and getting that kind of support that`s going to last you until the end. It might not be a viral moment, but that`s just a moment. What really matters is can you build the coalition? And for me, that is our fired up base, but it`s also bringing in independents, who are more and more, as you know from the 2016 election when we took back the House of Representatives and won in all of these places, like the governor`s race in Wisconsin and Michigan and Kansas. They came over to us. And I think for them, it`s an economic check. They`re afraid of this guy. They`re afraid of what he`s going to do to the underpinnings of our economy and how things are still getting more expensive, like pharmaceutical prices. But it`s also a value check. And that`s why I have been so surprised at the number of people that have showed up at our events who say, look, I didn`t vote last time or I voted independent. Or a few of them, one guy in line in New Hampshire, everyone had "I`m a climate change voter" sticker. You know, "I`m a Supreme Court voter" sticker. And this guy comes up and he whispers, I voted for Donald Trump. Don`t tell anyone here. And I go, no, I won`t, I won`t. And he goes, I`m not doing it again, you know?
MADDOW: Is your pitch to Donald Trump voters pitch different than your pitch to base voters? I mean --
KLOBUCHAR: Not really, no, because, you know, I am what I am. And to me this isn`t a strategy. And it`s a way I have won big and brought people with me and won up and down our ticket when I lead the ticket, and that is by simply meeting people where they are, going not just where it is comfortable, but where it`s uncomfortable, and making the pitch that we clearly need someone who`s in it for the long haul when it comes to our economy. That we`ve got to match our education system with the jobs we have now and in the future. That we need to respect the dignity of work -- as my friend, Sherrod Brown says -- by making sure that people can get child care and can retire in peace and can have a good family leave when something goes wrong. That`s what they need. And to talk about that in addition to wanting to have a president that when they`re on TV don`t have to turn the volume down in front of your kids because you don`t know what he`s going to say. So, I think she could do much better as a president and not do that. And that`s the point I`ve been making.
MADDOW: Stay right there. We`ll be right back with Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MADDOW: Joining us once again is Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat from Minnesota, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, having a bit of a moment right now in her campaign. Senator, let me ask you about something you were just talking about in terms of reaching base voters also needing to reach the voters who didn`t vote either for the Democrat or at all last time. You have been stinging in your critique for Medicare-for-All. You described it as a pipe dream in the last debate, fiercely critical, in particular, of Senator Warren for not talking about how she was going to pay for it. It`s entirely possible that one of the people who likes Medicare-for-All is going to be the nominee or would be your running mate if you`re on the ticket. Have you given the Republicans basically a bunch of great talking points against something that a lot of Democrats like?
KLOBUCHAR: No, I don`t think so. I`m open to all ideas. I am just being very focused on what I think we can get done and what`s the best idea right now and that idea to me is the public option. And think about what that would mean. It`s what Barack Obama wanted to do to begin with. It does not trash the Affordable Care Act. It builds on it by simply saying, OK, we`re going to have an option that`s non-profit for a change, and it can be Medicare/Medicaid, but what it means is that you will be able to have a less expensive good option to compete with private insurance, and then people can start buying into it using their Affordable Care Act subsidies. And, yes, I have shown how I`m going to pay for it and how I`m going to pay for everything I`ve proposed, including mental health treatment and long-term care, improving that, because I think that`s really important right now and that`s my difference. And I know that Senator Warren said that she`s going to come out to explain how she is going to pay for it. I think that`s good. I just think we have a president right now that has added trillions of dollars to the debt by giving money to his rich friends, that tax bill when he goes down to Mar-a-Lago and says, hey, I just made you a lot richer. To me, that`s the best political ad of all because he basically has shown where his heart is and what he`s doing with the policies. And that`s why I think it`s just important that we say how we`re going to pay for things.
MADDOW: I think we`re in this a little bit of a trap, though, in terms of what you care about with policy because Democratic voters, I think voters across the country of all stripes really, really care about health care and it being so expensive.
KLOBUCHAR: Yes.
MADDOW: And about health care delivery. Big question. It`s really, really a top priority issue. And Republicans have been very busy trying to take health coverage away from many Americans as possible.
KLOBUCHAR: Agree. Right now in Texas in a lawsuit.
MADDOW: Democrats, on the other hand, are all in agreement that there should be universal coverage.
KLOBUCHAR: We are.
MADDOW: Because Democrats are willing to talk about it, you guys spend all your time --
KLOBUCHAR: Good point, right.
MADDOW: -- fighting about it, tearing each other down about it.
KLOBUCHAR: Good point. I try to point out when I can -- and one of the reasons I came out strong on my plan in showing the differences is there have been some statements like you don`t fight -- you`re not going to fight for it, or statements -- and my whole point was there is not a monopoly on good ideas. We can have different ideas. And I think we`ve been very clear what unites us is stronger than what divides us. Bernie and I have worked together. We`ve done joint amendments on pharmaceuticals, on bringing less expensive drugs in from safe countries like Canada, or I lead the bill and a number of my colleagues up on that stage are on it to allow -- lift that ban to allow Medicare to negotiate less expensive drugs. What happened was pharma got that provision written into that law. That`s what it says. They can`t negotiate. It`s crazy. So, I think in the end, yes, there`s vigorous debates. That`s what our party`s about. But I still believe there`s respect on that stage. I certainly respect my colleagues.
MADDOW: Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, it`s great to have you here.
KLOBUCHAR: All right. Thanks.
MADDOW: Good to see you.
KLOBUCHAR: Great to see you, Rachel.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source