MSNBC host Rachel Maddow showered 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., with praise on Monday, but her compliments weren’t quite as effusive as they were for another Democrat vying for the White House.
“If you end up not becoming president of the United States, I hope that you’ll stay in public life forever,” Maddow told Klobuchar, saying she was “one of the easiest people” with whom to talk. “But you’ve also just done a lot of good in public life thus far, so it’s exciting to see what you can do at this next level.”
Klobuchar, 58, officially began her campaign on Sunday during an open-air event in Boom Island Park, Minneapolis, Minn., while snow blanketed the thousand-strong crowd. The three-term senator and former district attorney joked in her speech about the typical frigid Minnesotan conditions.
“We don’t let a little snow stop us. We don’t let a little cold stop us,” she told her supporters.
Maddow said Klobuchar’s humor could distinguish her from the other contenders for the Democratic Party’s nomination given the size of the primary field.
“She’s not the most professionally packaged candidate in the world, but funny sets her apart in lots of ways,” Maddow said, adding another weakness in Klobuchar’s candidacy is her lack of name recognition.
Maddow’s interview with Klobuchar follows another with 2020 contender Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., during which Maddow predicted good fortune for the former California attorney general.
“Sen. Harris, I am excited to see the effect that you have on the primary process. I think that you are going to be a formidable contender,” Maddow told Harris. “I will just say, honestly, I think there’s a good chance that you are going to win the nomination. You in a general election fight against Donald Trump would be the funnest thing in the world to cover.”
Maddow, 45, has become a queenmaker of sorts in Democratic politics, thanks in part to the more than two million viewers who on average tune into her eponymous prime-time show every night. The TV host and liberal commentator has so far interviewed all four of the female senators who’ve made official moves toward the presidency, the others including Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. Klobuchar, however, joins Harris in being invited to Maddow’s program and being scheduled to feature in a CNN town hall.
During the interview Monday, Klobuchar also let slip that she has spoken to former President Barack Obama about her White House bid, but wouldn’t divulge whether he encouraged her to run for higher office.
