Source: Ron Jenkins / Getty
The news that Amy Klobuchar was being vetted by Joe Biden seemed to be panned by critics across the board, making the Minnesota senator’s name a top trending topic on Twitter Thursday night for all the wrong reasons. But perhaps nowhere was the chorus of disapproval for her being considered as a possible vice presidential pick louder than from the founder of a women’s group that advocates for diversity in politics.
Aimee Allison of She the People, which describes itself as “a national network connecting women of color to transform our democracy,” used no uncertain terms to implore Biden to look elsewhere for his running mate — specifically in the direction of a woman of color.
“The Biden campaign just made a dangerous and reckless choice,” Allison said in a brief statement emailed to the media on Thursday afternoon following the announcement that Klobuchar was being vetted. “The decision ignores everything we have on the line in November and the lessons Democrats must learn from 2016. To choose Klobuchar as vice president risks losing the very base the Democrats need to win, most centrally women of color, and could be a fatal blow to the Democrats’ chance to win the White House. There is still time for Biden’s campaign to get on track. The Biden campaign needs to choose a woman of color who will solidify the multiracial coalition we need to win.”
Likely reacting to the blowback over the news, Biden downplayed it and wouldn’t confirm anything Thursday night when he appeared on late-night TV host Stephen Colbert’s show.
He also reportedly contradicted earlier reports by telling Colbert that “no one has been vetted yet.”
Allison didn’t name anybody who she feels would be a better choice than Klobuchar, but some of the most popular names of women of color being considered for Biden’s vice presidential running mate include California Sen. Kamala Harris and for Georgia State Rep. Stacey Abrams.
There is also Florida Rep. Val Demings, one of the House impeachment managers who successfully helped impeach Donald Trump last year. She was also reported on Thursday as one of the people Biden was also vetting as a potential running mate.
Biden has vowed to pick a woman running mate but in recent weeks has refused to promise that the candidate would be a woman of color.
Picking Klobuchar could be seen as a slap in the face to voters who have been demanding Biden pick a Black woman for his running mate. She doesn’t have the best track record on the topic of race, as shown by one of the Black men who she prosecuted when she was the Hennepin County attorney in Minnesota. Myon Burrell, who is serving a life sentence for killing an 11-year-old girl when he was 16, has maintained his innocence and claims Klobuchar “gave the police free rein and just said, ‘bring me back a conviction, secure me a conviction’ and that’s what they did, by any means necessary.”
Black voters, in particular, have been largely credited with propelling Biden’s candidacy to get to where it is now. Considering Biden has even gone so far as to boast on the debate stage, at rallies and, really, anywhere else, that he has the undying support of Black voters, the coveted demographic might be expecting something in return.
It’s safe to say that Klobuchar ain’t it.
SEE ALSO:
Team Biden Seems To Be Paving The Way For A Non-Black VP
Biden Picking Klobuchar For VP Would Be A Slap In The Face To Voters Demanding A Black Woman
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