Amy Klobuchar in Democratic Primary Debate


On Abortion: Public supports contraception and safe abortion

What if Donald Trump was standing on the debate stage with me? I'd say, "In your race for president you said you wanted to put doctors in jail. That is exactly what the Alabama law is. It put doctors in jail for 99 years. You are not on the side of women. You are not on the side of people of this country when over 75% of people want to keep Roe v. Wade on the book. When over 90% of people want to make sure we have available contraception. You defunded Planned Parenthood. I would fund
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate Oct 15, 2019

On Corporations: Consolidation of business leading to startup slump

I was in the private sector for 14 years. What I saw was when we got more competition there the prices went down in a big way. Right now we have another gilded age going on. The issue here is this, start talking about this as a pro competition issue. This used to be a Republican and Democratic issue because our founding fathers wanted to have less consolidation. We were a place of entrepreneurship. We are seeing a startup slump in this country and this means everything from tech on dow
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate Oct 15, 2019

On Families & Children: We need to talk about aging population, long term care

Sen. Bernie SANDERS: On the Medicare for All bill, premiums are gone, co-payments are gone, deductibles are gone. All out of pocket expenses are gone. The overwhelming majority of people will save money on their healthcare bills.

Mayor Pete BUTTIGIEG: I don't think the American people are wrong when they say that what they want is a choice. Why unnecessarily divide this country over healthcare when there's a better way to deliver coverage for all?

KLOBUCHAR: What really bothers me about this discussion, which we've had so many times, is that we don't talk about the things that I'm hearing about from regular Americans: long term care. We are seeing, I once called it a silver tsunami, the aging, and then someone told me that was too negative. So, I call it the silver surge, the aging of the population. We need to make it easier to get long term care insurance and strengthen Medicaid.

Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate Oct 15, 2019

On Foreign Policy: Need consistency in our foreign policy

V.P. Joe BIDEN: I would not have withdrawn the troops [from the Kurdish areas of northern Syria, under threat from a Turkish invasion].

Mayor Pete BUTTIGIEG: Soldiers in the field are reporting that they feel ashamed of what their country has done.

Rep. Tulsi GABBARD: What you're saying is that you would continue to support having U.S. troops in Syria for an indefinite period of time to continue this regime change war?

BUTTIGIEG: What we were doing in Syria was keeping our word.

I think we need to talk about this a not only in terms of the horror of what happened here with Turkey. Think about our other allies, Israel. How do they feel right now? Donald Trump is not true to his word. Think about our allies in Europe when he pulls out of the Iranian agreement, and leaves them holding the bag, and gives the power to China and Russia. Think about the nuclear agreement with Russia that he precipitously pulled out of. This is part of a pattern. It's not an isolate

Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate Oct 15, 2019

On Government Reform: Russia didn't just meddle in our election; they invaded it

Q: Your response to Putin and Russia?

CEO Andrew Yang: We have to let Russia know, "Look, we get it. We've tampered with other elections. You've tampered with our elections. And now it has to stop."

Senator Klobuchar: I don't see a moral equivalency between our country and Russia. Vladimir Putin is someone who has shot down planes over Ukraine, who has poisoned his opponent, and we have not talked about what we need to do to protect ourselves from Russia invading our election. This wasn't meddling--that's what I do when I call my daughter on a Saturday night and ask her what she's doing. This was much more serious than that. This was actually invading our election. So to protect ourselves in 2020, we need backup paper ballots in every single state. And then we need to stop the social media companies from running paid political ads, without having to say where those ads came from and who paid for them. That's the Honest Ads Act, that's a bipartisan bill that I lead.

Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate Oct 15, 2019

On Gun Control: Public is with us on background checks & police vetting

The public is with us on this in a big way. The majority of Trump voters want to see universal background checks right now. The majority of hunters want to see us move forward with gun safety legislation. There are three bills right now on Mitch McConnell's desk. The background check bill. My bill so domestic abusers don't get guns. The bill to make it easier for police to vet people before they get a gun. That's what we should be focusing on.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate Oct 15, 2019

On Principles & Values: What unites us is bigger than what divides us

While we have had major debates about policy, we have to remember that what unites us is so much bigger than what divides us. And we have to remember that our job is to not just change policy, but to change the tone in our politics, to look up from our phones, to look at each other, to start talking to each other.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate Oct 15, 2019

On Principles & Values: Trump's actions make Russia great again, not America

I'm waiting to find out how making that call to the head of Ukraine and trying to get him involved in interfering in our election makes America great again. I'd like to hear how leaving the Kurds for slaughter, where Russia then steps in to protect them, makes America great again. I would like to hear from him about how coddling up to Vladimir Putin makes America great again. It doesn't make America great again, it makes Russia great again. That is what this President has done.
Source: October Democratic Primary debate on impeaching Trump Oct 15, 2019

On Tax Reform: Repeal significant portions of Trump tax bill

Q: Will a wealth tax work?

KLOBUCHAR: It could work. I am open to it. I would repeal significant portions of that tax bill that helped the rich, including what he did with the corporate tax rate, including what he did on international taxation. You add it all up, you got a lot of money that one, helps pay for that childcare, protects that dignity of work, makes sure we have decent retirement and makes sure that our kids can go to good schools.

Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate Oct 15, 2019

The above quotations are from Democratic Primary Debate in Ohio, hosted by CNN and the New York Times.
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Page last updated: Feb 09, 2020