Skip to Content

Klobuchar and Steyer couldn’t name Mexico’s president while campaigning in Nevada

2020 Democratic hopefuls Amy Klobuchar and Tom Steyer both couldn’t name the president of Mexico when asked during a Telemundo interview while campaigning in Nevada this week.

“I forget,” Steyer said when asked. Klobuchar offered a simple “no” in response.

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg was the only one of the three candidates interviewed to correctly name President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

“Yeah, President López Obrador, I hope,” Buttigieg responded with a smile.

López Obrador was sworn in as president of Mexico in December 2018.

On Sunday, Buttigieg hit Klobuchar for her inability to answer the question, telling a crowd of supporters in Las Vegas it shows “that there is more to being prepared than how many years you spent in Washington.”

“Look, I get this question a lot you know, ‘What makes you think you can run for president when you haven’t spent years and years in Washington?’ And I always say that’s, that’s kind of the point,” he said.

The bungled answers from Klobuchar and Steyer come as 2020 candidates turn their attention to Nevada, which has a large Latino population, ahead of the state’s caucuses on February 22.

A notable concentration of Latino voters in the state are in Clark County, which is home to Las Vegas. And with powerful labor groups like the Culinary Union and a political machine built by former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the state remains a valuable primary prize. The Culinary Union said this week it would not endorse any candidate before the February 22 caucus.

After Nevada, candidates will turn to South Carolina along with a busy slate of more diverse states that will vote on Super Tuesday like California and Texas.

A Quinnipiac national poll released earlier this month found Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders leading the Democratic primary race.

Following Sanders are former Vice President Joe Biden with 17% support, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at 15%, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren with 14%, Buttigieg with 10% and Klobuchar with 4%.

No other candidate received above 2% in the poll.

This story has been updated with Pete Buttigieg’s comments on Sunday.

Article Topic Follows: Politics

Jump to comments ↓

Author Profile Photo

CNN

BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION

KVIA ABC 7 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation.

Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here

If you would like to share a story idea, please submit it here.

Skip to content