Sen. Amy Klobuchar says she used her access to nudge Trump on L.A. wildfire recovery

WASHINGTON —  Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, the chief of the inaugural transition, acknowledged the difficulty of overseeing the handoff of power to President Trump in the site where his followers sought to overthrow election results but also said it was important for herself and other Democrats to acknowledge Trump’s 2024 victory.

“We had a job to do,” said Klobuchar, the chairwoman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which worked for two years on planning the transition, in an interview Monday night. “And that’s why President Obama came and President Clinton, they were well aware of what had happened in that request. But that was our job.”

Asked whether it was difficult to speak at the inauguration of Trump, whom Klobuchar did not vote for, she replied, “Well, everything about this can be a little hard.”

But she added that she sought to use the opportunity to impress upon Trump the need to support Los Angeles’ recovery from the wildfires as well as the importance of the 2028 Olympic Games in Southern California. “That’s important,” Klobuchar said.

In the introduction of Monday’s inauguration ceremony in the historic Capitol Rotunda, Klobuchar coyly touched upon the dichotomy of the formal swearing-in taking place in the same place Trump’s supporters stormed as they tried to stop the certification of his 2020 loss.

“Today President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance will take their oath of office and we will witness the peaceful transfer of power at the heart of our democracy,” said Klobuchar, who ran for president in 2020 before dropping out and endorsing Biden. “Our theme this year is our enduring democracy. The presence of so many presidents and vice presidents here today is truly a testament to that endurance.”