The rough night suffered by Michael Bloomberg has dominated post-debate coverage, but another aspect of the Democratic race is also coming into focus: Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg appear to genuinely dislike each other. The Minnesota senator and the former South Bend mayor clashed numerous times, and Klobuchar seemed to deliberately shun Buttigieg when things wrapped up and it was time for the handshakes, reports Newsweek. "The battle between the two has been brewing for quite a while, but it has now completely boiled over," writes Terina Allen at Forbes. A headline at Politico makes a similar point, and the piece uses words like "hostility" and even "loathing." BuzzFeed tosses in "rancor." Part of it is seen as inevitable political positioning as the two moderates compete for a similar voter base, but the stories suggest a personal enmity, too.
On Wednesday, Buttigieg went after Klobuchar for failing to remember the name of Mexico's president in an interview. It matters because "you're staking your candidacy on your Washington experience," he said. Klobuchar responded, “Are you trying to say that I'm dumb? Or are you mocking me here, Pete?" They also clashed over resumes. Politico notes that this has been a sore point for Klobuchar, who has spoken about sexism on the campaign trail, arguing that a woman with Buttigieg's resume probably wouldn't have made it this far. In the debate, she contrasted her 12 years of experience with Buttigieg's record. "If winning a race for Senate in Minnesota translated directly to becoming president," Buttigieg said, "I would have grown up under the presidency of Walter Mondale." At one point, Klobuchar said, "I wish everyone was as perfect as you, Pete." (More Amy Klobuchar 2020 stories.)
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