Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg Lock Horns at Dem Debate: ‘You Lost By 20 Points’ in Indiana’

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN) clashed at the PBS & Politico Democratic Debate over each others’ political experience.

During the debate, Klobuchar objected to Buttigieg’s mocking comments recently about how many years his fellow candidates have held office. Speaking to the accomplishments of their colleagues on-stage, Klobuchar told Buttigieg “you can dismiss committee hearings, I think this experience works.

“I have not denigrated your experience as a local official. I have been one,” Klobuchar continued. “I just think you should respect our experience when you look at how you evaluate someone who can get things done.”

Klobuchar’s remarks drew applause, so Buttigieg responded that she did denigrate his experience, but he was going to let it go because “we’ve got bigger fish to fry here.”

“I don’t think we have bigger fish to fry than picking a president of the United States,” Klobuchar reacted.

Buttigieg continued by accusing Klobuchar of questioning his commitment to the Constitution, invoking his military service in the process.

“That is my experience,” Buttigieg said. “It may not be the same as yours, but it counts, Senator. It counts.”

Klobuchar responded that Buttigieg’s service wasn’t the matter at hand, “this is about choosing a president.” She noted that Buttigieg once tried and failed to become chair of the Democratic National Committee, arguing that the Democrats need to choose a candidate who can win races.

“The point is, we should have someone heading up this ticket that has actually won and been able to show they can gather the support that you talk about of moderate Republicans and independents as well as a fired up Democratic base and not just done it once. I have done it three times. I think winning matters. I think a track record of getting things done matters, and I also think showing our party that we can bring people with us, have a wider tent, a bigger coalition and, yes, longer coat tails, that matters.”

“I know that if you just go by vote totals, maybe what goes on in my city seems small to you,” Buttigieg retaliated. “If you want to talk about the capacity to win, try putting together a coalition to bring you back to office with 80% of the vote as a gay dude in Mike Pence’s Indiana.”

Klobuchar’s response: “If you had won in Indiana, that would be one thing. You tried and you lost by 20 points.”

Watch above, via CNN.