After an aide to Sen. Amy Klobuchar forgot to get her a fork with the salad he brought her on a flight, she scolded him and then ate the salad with a comb when the crew did not have any utensils on board.
When she had finished eating, the Minnesota Democrat, who is running for president in 2020, made the staffer clean the comb she had brought with her in her bag, the New York Times reported Friday.
Accusations that Klobuchar has mistreated her staff have been piling up, starting days before she announced her bid for the Democratic nomination for 2020.
The report is the latest of several describing how she created a hostile work environment, sending degrading emails and berating staff for minor missteps. Klobuchar is said to have been known to throw office supplies when she became upset, and staffers were asked to wash her dishes or perform other chores – possibly violating Senate ethics rules.
Klobuchar, 58, has tried to brush off the claims by saying she can be a demanding boss. “I am tough. I push people, that is true,” she said. “But my point is, is that I have high expectations for myself, I have high expectations for the people that work for me, and I have high expectations for this country.”
Her press secretary Carlie Waibel said some of the stories were “just plain ridiculous,” without addressing any specifics.
“The senator has repeatedly acknowledged that she can be tough and push people hard. But these anonymous stories — some of which are just plain ridiculous — do not overshadow the countless experiences of people on the senator’s team who she has been so proud to work with,” she said.
