Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), during an appearance at CNN’s town hall on Tuesday, tried to make up for her previous inability to recall the name of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, blaming her mental lapse on exhaustion.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper forced Klobuchar to address last week’s awkward moment, where she found herself unable to name the president of Mexico.
“I want to ask you about something that happened recently. You were asked to give the name of the president of Mexico,” Cooper began.
“You couldn’t at the time. Mayor Buttigieg did know the name, and he says it helps his argument that Washington experience isn’t necessary to be president.”
“Oh my. Okay, well, first of all, I would like to give my greetings to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the president of Mexico,” Klobuchar said, seemingly mispronouncing his first name as “Andre”:
“When that happened, for what it’s worth, I had been in the Senate all day,” Klobuchar continued, offering an overview of that busy day.
“We had six votes and — including a resolution to be a check on the president so he doesn’t go pell-mell into war with Iran — and I got on a plane and got there, I think at midnight my time and had a fast interview and then did two forums after that, I think ending at about two or three in the morning,” she said.
“So you know, such is life,” she added.
She also addressed Buttigieg, telling Cooper, “I would say to the mayor, this isn’t like a game of Jeopardy.”
Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg (D) — as well as Michael Bloomberg (D), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Joe Biden (D) — will face off at Wednesday’s Democrat debate in Las Vegas, Nevada, at 9 p.m. EST.