The Democratic presidential primary debate was momentarily derailed after Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) was asked to explain why she was unable to name the president of Mexico during a recent interview with Telemundo, the American Spanish-language news network.
“I don’t think that the momentary forgetfulness actually reflects what I know about Mexico and how much I care about it,” Klobuchar told the moderators. “But when it comes to Mexico, I am the one person on this stage that came out first to say I was for the U.S.-Mexican-Canadian trade agreement. That is going to be one of the number one duties of a president – is to implement that.”
After moderator Vanessa Hauc, who works for Telemundo, pressed Klobuchar on the incident further, Klobuchar retorted: “That’s right. I said I made an error. I think that having a president that maybe is humble, and is able to admit that here and there maybe wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
Hauc then asked Pete Buttigieg for his two cents, as the former mayor was actually successful in naming the Mexican president during a recent interview. “I wouldn’t liken this to trivia,” said Buttigieg, who then directed an attack back at Klobuchar.
“But you’re staking your candidacy on your Washington experience,” said the former mayor. “You’re on the committee that oversees border security. You’re on the committee that does trade. You’re literally part of the committee that oversees those things.”
Klobuchar then issued a strong response to Buttigieg: “Are you trying to say that I’m dumb? Are you mocking me, Pete? I said I made an error.”
The Minnesota senator then volleyed an attack about electability against Buttigieg: “I am the one, not you, that has won statewide in congressional district after congressional district. And I will say, when you tried to run in Indiana, Pete, what happened to you? You lost by over 20 points.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who was on offense the entire debate, then came to the defense of Klobuchar, calling the ability to memorize a name silly.
“This is not right. I understand that she forgot a name. It happens. It happens to everybody on this stage,” Warren told the crowd, implying that the question was trivia-like in nature. “Let’s just be clear, missing a name all by itself does not indicate that you do not understand what’s going on. I just think this is unfair.”
During the series of tangents, former Vice President Joe Biden tried to chime in, unsuccessfully, on account that he had previously met the president of Mexico. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT), not wanting to be the only one not to offer his opinion on the matter – aside from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg – responded to Biden with an enthusiastic “Si!”
Following a short break, a debate moderator jokingly asked the primary candidates if they were ready “to play some Nevada trivia.”