Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she thought she might have gotten hit in the middle of a heated exchange between businessman Tom Steyer and former Vice President Joe Biden during Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate.
“That moment with those two, they were going at it and I stood there,” the Minnesota Democrat recalled on Wednesday night during CNN’s presidential town hall in South Carolina. “And what was somewhat amusing about it was that Tom Steyer was so heated he was moving into my little area right there, and so I actually thought – he was flailing his arms – that I actually might get hit in the process.”
“And then I thought, well, if something happens and I fall off my little stool I was standing on because I’m the only one who is truly 5-foot-4 – despite the fact that the President called Michael Bloomberg 5-foot-4, I’m the only one that can hold that – and I thought to myself, ‘At least Steyer has deep pockets,’ ” Klobuchar said laughing.
“I’ll be in good shape,” she added. “I can get something out of this and it will be OK.”
The tense moment had come during a contentious debate that saw the Democratic contenders continually take aim at Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who has solidified his status as the party’s front-runner after claiming victory in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday.
Recounting Tuesday night as a “slug fest,” Klobuchar said, “My view of the debate was that our job, because so many people are tuning in for the first time that don’t really know the candidates, is to give them an alternative to Donald Trump.”
“I think I said at one point that if we keep tearing into each other and tearing apart our party for the next four months, then we’re going to have to watch Donald Trump tear apart this country for the next four years,” she said.
“And I think it is really important for people to understand that despite all of that – because we’re in an intense primary – that what unites people is still stronger than what divides them and that there is a big difference between our party and Donald Trump.”