“Of the women on the stage… do I think we would be standing on that stage if we had the experience that [Mayor Pete Buttigieg] had? No, I don’t. Maybe we’re held to a different standard.” – Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Mayor Buttigieg’s qualifications. #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/HHvUIK2Z6K

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) November 10, 2019

In an interview on CNN’s State of the Union, Klobuchar is asked about comments she made to contrast her record of winning against a sparser record of success for Buttigieg. She explains that while she does believe Buttigieg is qualified, she is the better candidate. She adds, “The last point I made in that article was that, of the women on the stage – I’m focusing here on my fellow women senators, Senator Harris, Senator Warren and myself – do I think that we would be standing on that stage if we had the experience that he had? No, I don’t. Maybe we’re held to a different standard.” Journalist Emma Goldberg revisits this issue a January 2020 article titled “Would a 37-Year-Old Woman Be Where Pete Buttigieg Is?” after Buttigieg’s success in Iowa and New Hampshire, by speaking with 37-year-old women politicians across the country about their perceptions of gender differences in political opportunity.