Surging in the polls, Klobuchar says Trump can't put himself in voters' shoes, 'I can'

MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- Just as voters take to the polls amid the first-in-the-nation primary, Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar on ABC's "The View," touted herself as the most moderate candidate who can relate to voters on a personal level, unlike President Donald Trump, who she says "lacks decency."

"I think we've got a guy in the White House that lacks decency," Klobuchar told the hosts on Tuesday. "He can’t put himself in their shoes. I can."

The Minnesota senator and 2020 presidential candidate went on, "I'm the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from my state, and I have had to work hard like so many Americans to the place I got. That’s the case I made."

Klobuchar also said, unlike some of her opponents, she thinks she’s capable of bringing together different coalitions of voters.

"I'm someone that looks people in the eye and tells them the truth, and I don't have everyone agree with me when I do that," Klobuchar said. "But one of the reasons I have been able to bring in independents and moderate Republicans, as well as a fired-up Democratic base like we're seeing here in New Hampshire, is that I have been able to build a coalition, a wide tent. I think that's what we need right now."

When asked why the moderate candidates in the race have spent more time attacking each other and less time talking about self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, a front-runner in the polls, Klobuchar tried to distinguish herself.

During Friday's debate in Manchester, ABC News’ moderators asked the candidates if any were concerned about a Socialist Democrat taking the nomination.

"I’m the only one that raised my hand and said yes," Klobuchar said.

The hosts also asked her whether the Democratic Party should embrace pro-life voters, after Sanders suggested there wasn’t room for them in the party.

"I’m strongly pro-choice. I have always been pro-choice, but I believe we’re a big-tent party," she said. "And there are pro-life Democrats and they are part of our party, and we need to build a bigger tent."

Co-host Sunny Hostin pressed her on her record as a former prosecutor, where one case in particular has drawn intense scrutiny.

The case centers on Klobuchar's push for a life sentence on a black teenager while she was still in office -- whose defense has recently uncovered evidence suggesting he may be innocent.

Hostin, also a former prosecutor and a mother of a black teenager, said the case would have been her "worst nightmare."

"I have reviewed the facts of that case, and it is one of the most flawed investigations and prosecutions that I think I have ever seen," Hostin continued.

Klobuchar said she thinks all new evidence should be reviewed.

"I have been very clear. All of the evidence needs to be immediately reviewed in that case," Klobuchar pushed back. "The past evidence and also any new evidence that has come forward."

Hostin pressed Klobuchar further, asking "you’re a U.S. senator now. You’re a powerful woman. What do you plan to do to right this wrong?"

Klobuchar repeated her call for reviews of the evidence, "that is what we must do in the justice system."

Klobuchar’s comments come just as she hits the New Hampshire finish line after a noteworthy post-ABC News debate whirlwind weekend in the Granite State.

ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl said it was a "breakthrough night" for the Minnesota senator, even calling it her best performance thus far.

In the 24 hours after she stepped off that debate stage, her campaign announced she had raised $2 million, her biggest post-debate fundraising haul yet. They have now raised over $3 million since Friday night.

Moments after her campaign hit $2 million, Klobuchar told an at-capacity crowd in Durham, that she was still running in the race without the money to match some of her opponents.

"Let's surprise everyone and win the right way, with the right ideas, the boldest ideas, the best ideas, the way to put them into action instead of the biggest bank account or the loudest voice in the room," Klobuchar said on Saturday. "We already have that in the White House."

Her crowds in the state are also growing, with up to 1100 people at a Sunday night rally in Nashua, and over 700 attendees at an event just hours before in Manchester.

"That is the kind of wide tent that we want to have to take on Donald Trump," Klobuchar said.

ABC News' Will McDuffie contributed to this report.