Sen. Amy Klobuchar said her tough approach to the people who work for her could be an advantage if she is elected president and has to deal with world leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“One can always do better, and that means you want to be sure that you are listening to people if they felt that something was unfair, or they felt bad about something,” Klobuchar told CNN on Thursday when asked about reports that she mistreats her staff.
“But I still think that you have to demand good product.,” she added. “When you’re out there on the world stage and dealing with people like Vladimir Putin, yeah, you want someone who’s tough. You want someone that demands the answers, and that’s going to get things done, and that’s what I’ve done my whole life.”
Reports of Klobuchar’s mistreatment of her staff have plagued the 2020 presidential hopeful even before the Minnesota Democrat launched her campaign. Former aides have said Klobuchar created a hostile work environment, sent degrading emails, threw office supplies, and berated staff over minor incidents.
Klobuchar has not denied those reports and has said she’s a tough boss with high expectations.
Klobuchar, who has one of the highest rates of annual turnover in Senate staff, said she hopes journalists are covering male candidates’ treatment of staff the same way the are covering female candidates.
“I think the media is going to have to decide as they go down this track and there’s other candidates that get in the race and they hear other reports of people being tough or pushing people, they’re going to have to ask the men the same questions that they ask the women, and that’s going to be in the media,” she said.
[Opinion: Amy Klobuchar can abuse her staff, so … she’ll abuse Putin?]
