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Sen. Amy Klobuchar Wants To Bring The Ballot Box To The Mailbox

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-MN,  endorsed former vice president Joe Biden and withdrew from the presidential race just over a month ago.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-MN, endorsed former vice president Joe Biden and withdrew from the presidential race just over a month ago.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar still doesn’t know how her husband, John Bessler, got COVID-19.

But the Minnesota Democrat told the Star Tribune that the experience was harrowing.

As Klobuchar fretted over her critically ill husband, she confronted a fundamental truth about the pandemic and the strength of the virus causing it.

“If you have someone that healthy get that sick,” she realized, “it can happen to anyone.”

Bessler was released from the hospital at the end of March and is recovering.

And in Congress, Sen. Klobuchar now leads the effort to expand funding for vote-by-mail measures as a part of a fourth segment of coronavirus relief. But it might not go far. Politico reached a senior Trump administration official who responded “heck. no,” when asked about the likelihood of Klobuchar’s proposal passing.

We ask the senator about why she says expanding vote-by-mail efforts are a necessary part of COVID-19 recovery and about her personal experience with the pandemic.

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Amanda Williams