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Sen. Amy Klobuchar defends mistreatment of staff, saying it shows she could deal with Putin
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar defends mistreatment of staff, saying it shows she could deal with Putin

'You want someone who's tough...'

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) has come out defending herself over reports that she has a history of mistreating her aides. The 2020 presidential hopeful admitted that she's demanding, but said her brand of toughness is what it takes to deal with "people like Vladimir Putin" on the world stage.

What are the details?

Shortly after announcing she would be making a White House bid, several anonymous former staffers leaked reports about the senator, alleging extreme demands and behaviors. Klobuchar has remained unapologetic about the claims, conceding it's "obvious" that she's a tough boss.

On Thursday, Klobuchar doubled down on hailing her toughness against staffers as an asset, telling CNN, "If you're a boss, you have to have high standards, and that is what I have always had. And that doesn't mean it's a popularity contest all the time."

"And so I've had high standards for myself, high standards for our staff, and mostly I'm going to have high standards for the country," she continued.

"One can always do better," Klobuchar admitted, "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. But I still think that you have to demand good product.

"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 who demands the answers and that's going to get things done, and that's what I've done my whole life."

Anything else?

The rumors surrounding Klobuchar's alleged mistreatment of staff include accusations that she made employees cry, and hit an aide with a binder, The Daily Caller reported.

According to Fox News, the senator's pattern of behavior toward her staffers became so blatant, that former Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid told her to change her ways back in 2015.

Sen. Klobuchar reportedly has one of the highest employee turnover rates in the Senate.

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