Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and NBC host Kristen Welker clashed Sunday over President Joe Biden’s performance related to top issues for voters, with Welker frequently pointing to voters’ low sentiment for the president.
Klobuchar appeared on “Meet the Press” to discuss her support for Biden as the Democratic nominee. Leading up to the exchange, concerns regarding the president’s mental health have grown following the release of special counsel Robert Hur’s report in early February. Welker began to press the senator on how voters are unhappy with the state of the economy, asking if it may be time for Biden to “pass the torch” for the upcoming election. (RELATED: ‘Fantasyland’: Newt Gingrich Details Dems ‘Huge Problem’ With Voters, Calls Out Newsom’s Attempt To Save Biden)
“Senator, let me just follow up with you a little bit here because you cite those figures on the economy and yet the vast majority of Americans say they are not feeling it when it comes to the economy. They give President Biden low marks on the economy. It’s not resonating with voters. Why do you think — you obviously ran against President Biden in 2020; he promised that essentially he would build a bridge to the next generation — do you think it’s time to pass the torch?” Welker questioned.
Klobuchar stated she not only supports Biden due to his character, but noted she believes he is additionally “leading the way in bringing down costs.” However, Welker quickly jumped in to highlight that voters are not “feeling” the impacts of the “numbers” the Democrat senator was discussing.
“Again, I’m a believer in President Biden [because] I believe he is a good, moral person that has the backs of the people of this country and, just the examples I cited as time and time again, people have sided with that over election-deniers and the like. So I am proud to be supporting Joe Biden for president. As far as the challenges: the challenges are real and that is why, not just President Biden but many of us in the Senate have been leading the way in bringing down costs,” Klobuchar stated before Welker interrupted.
“But voters don’t feel it, Senator. Voters say, they don’t feel it. Why?” Welker questioned. “They’re not feeling the impacts, the numbers, the figures that you’re talking about. They don’t feel it in their pocketbooks when they go to the grocery store to buy groceries. Why is that and do you think he has time to reverse this, the low marks he’s getting on that critical point of the economy?”
Klobuchar pushed back against Welker’s claims by listing off “numbers” she believes is impacting Americans, such as insulin prices and infrastructure projects. The Democrat senator then called out GOP presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump over comments about Russia President Vladimir Putin during a campaign rally last weekend.
“Okay, well there are many challenges in front of us and people are going to have to decide if they want to go back to that chaos or look at someone that actually has the proof points of working on bringing costs down. And if you want to talk about numbers and polls and how people are feeling, let me give you some numbers. $35 a month, that’s how much insulin is going to be for seniors and actually for others as well as the prices are rolling out. Number two, 3.4 million, that’s how many veterans will be helped by taking on toxic burn pits. 40,000, there’s a number, that’s how many infrastructure projects, including the bridge from Minnesota to Wisconsin, that are getting funded and completed right now as we speak,” Klobuchar stated.
“So there is a case to make … He is not running, as the president has said, against the Almighty. He is running against Donald Trump. And time and time again, the voters have made clear where they stand on Donald Trump. Independents, moderate Republicans, they want to support someone who believes in democracy and has led the world against tyrants, like Vladimir Putin, as opposed to Donald Trump, who literally a week ago said that Vladimir Putin should be able to do ‘whatever the hell’ he wants.”
Democrats have become increasingly concerned over Biden’s low poll numbers as the president’s approval rating has steeped to an all-time low of 37%, according to a recent NBC News national poll. The poll additionally noted the president is trailing Trump by more than 20 points on who would handle the economy better and over 30 points on handling the immigration and border crisis.