Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar said last week her alcoholic father became sober when he was “pursued by grace.”
The Minnesota senator shared her father’s story during an interview Saturday with CNN’s Van Jones, who asked the politician how her dad’s alcoholism impacted her life and career.
“I literally saw my dad climb to the highest mountains, but sink to the lowest valleys, because of his battle with alcoholism,” she recalled.
Over the years, Klobuchar said her father was arrested and charged with three DWIs, the third of which presented the possibility of jail time, a potential consequence that prompted the Democrat’s dad to finally seek treatment.
“Then, in his words, he was pursued by grace,” she said, a clear reference to God’s biblical promise to chase after us, like in Luke 19:10, which reads, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
Klobuchar went on to say it was his faith as well as the community of supporters around him that “made the difference” for her father, who is now 90 years old.
“It has motivated me to say, ‘You know, everyone should be able to be pursued by grace,’” the senator told Jones. “Whether you get addicted to meth, whether it’s opioids, whether it’s alcohol, whether you have a mental health problem. It shouldn’t just be my dad.”
Redemption, she added, is difficult to understand “until you’ve experienced it in your own life.”
What else has Klobuchar said?
During a town-hall event on CNN, Klobuchar was asked about her faith and how frequently she attends church.
The 2020 presidential hopeful said she goes to Sunday church services whenever she can, noting she’s a congregationalist and her husband, John Bessler, is a practicing Catholic.
Klobuchar also revealed she has been “really active” in the weekly Senate prayer breakfast.
“The Senate prayer breakfast is a really important thing,” she explained. “It happens once a week, no one ever knows what people talk about. It is a mix. … Liberals go there — I promise — conservatives go there.”
The 58-year-old lawmaker said at the time faith has been “very important” to her, telling viewers it enabled her to “get through my dad’s addiction” and has helped her work across the aisle with other lawmakers to accomplish bipartisan goals.