US Senator Amy Klobuchar withdraws as candidate to be Joe Biden's running mate

WASHINGTON (NYTIMES) - Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota announced late Thursday (June 18) that she was withdrawing from consideration to be the running mate of former vice-president Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket.

Ms Klobuchar, who mounted her own campaign for the presidency before dropping out and becoming one of Mr Biden's most spirited surrogates, said during an MSNBC interview that she called Mr Biden on Wednesday night and told him he should choose a woman of colour to be his running mate.

Ms Klobuchar, a moderate and veteran of the Senate like Mr Biden, was known to have a strong rapport with the presumptive Democratic nominee and was an early favourite of a significant number of his donors and supporters.

But her case for being Mr Biden's running mate was badly damaged following the Memorial Day killing of Mr George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police officers.

The death, which has prompted weeks of demonstrations and protests against police violence across the country, led to renewed scrutiny of Ms Klobuchar's career as a local prosecutor in Minneapolis.

"After what I've seen in my state and what I've seen across the country, this is a historic moment and America must seize on this moment," she said. "I truly believe, as I told the vice-president last night, that I believe that this is a moment to put a woman of colour on that ticket."

Mr Biden committed to naming a woman as his vice-presidential pick during a debate with Senator Bernie Sanders on March 15.

His team's search committee has contacted roughly a dozen women, and eight or nine are being vetted more intensively, according to people familiar with the process.

Mr Biden's campaign had no comment Thursday night.

Ms Symone Sanders, a senior Mr Biden adviser, wrote in a tweet that she still expected Ms Klobuchar to be a strong advocate for the former vice-president's campaign.

Ms Klobuchar was still being vetted until her Wednesday night phone call to Mr Biden, according to a person familiar with Mr Biden's selection process.

But in conversations earlier this week, Ms Klobuchar suggested to friends that she recognised that her own history made it difficult for Mr Biden to select her, given the widespread Black Lives Matter protests.

Ms Klobuchar, as the Hennepin County attorney, developed a tough-on-crime reputation 20 years ago that is a difficult fit with modern Democratic Party politics.

One person she spoke with Monday said Ms Klobuchar relayed then that she understood she would not be selected "because of the police stuff."

Ms Klobuchar's declaration that Mr Biden should choose a woman of color created something of an awkward political dynamic for Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, another former presidential rival who is being considered by Mr Biden as a possible running mate.

Ms Warren is the most prominent and formidable white candidate in the running, and she is far along in the vetting process.

Other white candidates under consideration include Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Governor Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island.

Asked by MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell if her past record as a prosecutor would have made it difficult for her to "function" as Mr Biden's running mate, Ms Klobuchar said it was not a factor in her decision.

"I think I could have functioned fine and there's a lot of untruths out there about my record, and now is not the time to debate them."