Sen. Amy Klobuchar passes George Will's sexist likability test
Will: “She's not angry; she's cheerful”
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
From the January 31 edition of MSNBC Live with Ali Velshi:
ALI VELSHI (HOST): Well, as Democrats continue to throw their hats in the ring for 2020, the big question remains: Can they win over voters, as Ali said, in key states -- like Michigan, Pennsylvania -- to beat President Trump? Well, conservative commentator George Will argues there is one Democrat in that crowded field who has the best chance. You sitting down for this? He says it's Sen. Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota. She hasn't yet said she's running; nevertheless, George Will writes, “Klobuchar is the potential top-tier candidate most apt to resist forfeiting the general election while winning the nomination.” Syndicated columnist George Will joins me now. It's a thoughtful piece, George, which is why I want to just sort of get it out of the way before everybody tweets me and says, “Why are you talking to George Will about who he thinks who the best Democratic presidential candidate is?” But you make a point that as somebody who has spent his life as a Republican, if you want to take on Donald Trump in the way that Ali Vitali just talked about and Sherrod Brown just talked about, why do you think it's Amy Klobuchar?
GEORGE WILL (MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR): Well, go back to 2016. Donald Trump got indispensable help from the Democratic Party. You nominated someone who had higher disapproval than approval ratings as she entered the general election. Two days ago, a poll came out that said 56 percent of Americans say they definitely will not vote for Mr. Trump. Majorities of urban voters, suburban voters, woman, Hispanics, Black, et cetera. Now, he's in a hopeless condition unless the Democrats nominate someone who frightens people back into his arms. Now, if you have a bidding war among people trying to get to the left to please the outer shores of the Democratic Party's progressivism -- abolish ICE, abolish the Electoral College, pack the Supreme Court, free college, $15 minimum wage, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera -- it's still possible to drive people back into the arms of Mr. Trump. Amy Klobuchar is not like that. First of all, she's not angry; she's cheerful. Second, she's Midwestern. The three states that really put Mr. Trump over the top and into the White House were Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania -- Midwestern states. You just showed us Sherrod Brown -- it seems to me if I were the Trump people, I would be most terrified of a Klobuchar-Brown or Brown-Klobuchar ticket, it doesn't matter who's on -- the order you put them in.
Related:
Wash. Post: Amy Klobuchar may be best equipped to send the president packing
Previously:
George Will claims Democrats fight voter ID laws so they can rig elections
Protests over George Will speeches spread to another university