Biden ally sees Klobuchar as less likely Biden running mate

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar seems a less likely choice to become Joe Biden’s running mate on his presidential ticket following this week’s death of a black man in police custody in Minneapolis, a key ally of the former vice president said.

Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., told reporters on Friday that while he believes Klobuchar is “absolutely” qualified to be vice president, “This is very tough timing for her.”

Klobuchar was a prosecutor years ago in the county that includes Minneapolis. During that period, more than two dozen people — mostly minorities — died during encounters with police. Following customary practice at the time, she sent the cases to grand juries, which brought no criminal charges against any of the officers involved.

Before being elected to the Senate in 2006, Klobuchar, who is white, spent eight years as prosecutor for Minnesota’s largest county. Most of the more than two dozen people who died during police encounters in her tenure were people of color, according to data compiled by Communities United Against Police Brutality and news articles reviewed by the AP.

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