Amy Klobuchar reportedly once ate a salad with a comb and made an aide clean it


The New York Times has just published the third exposé on Sen. Amy Klobuchar's (D-Minn.) alleged mistreatment of her staff this month.
Reports about the evidently nightmarish experience of working for Klobuchar, who is running for president in 2020, were previously documented by HuffPost and BuzzFeed News, but Friday's from the Times is by far the weirdest if only for its opening anecdote.
Apparently, during a 2008 trip to South Carolina, an aide delivered Klobuchar a salad but didn't bring a fork, and there weren't any on the flight. "What happened next was typical: Ms. Klobuchar berated her aide instantly for the slip-up," the Times writes. "What happened after that was not: She pulled a comb from her bag and began eating the salad with it." Klobuchar reportedly then handed the comb to the aide and demanded they "clean it."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Aides interviewed for this piece described working for Klobuchar, who is reportedly known to berate employees frequently and throw office supplies at them, as "dehumanizing." Klobuchar is also described as shooting "slashing remarks" at employees "without particular provocation," including once saying to a staffer, "I would trade three of you for a bottle of water."
There also seems to be a potential violation of Senate rules: Klobuchar reportedly has an "unusual" parental leave policy, requiring those who take leave to commit to staying for three times as long as they were gone when they return. If they don't, they have to pay back the money they earned while on leave. A spokeswoman for Klobuchar said they have "never made staff pay back any of their leave and will be changing that language in the handbook."
Klobuchar has responded to reports of her alleged behavior by saying, "Am I a tough boss sometimes? Yes." Read more at The New York Times.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
August 30 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump's role reversal and King George III
-
5 bullseye cartoons about the reasons for mass shootings
Cartoons Artists take on gun worship, a price paid, and more
-
Lisa Cook and Trump's battle for control the US Fed
Talking Point The president's attempts to fire one of the Federal Reserve's seven governor is represents 'a stunning escalation' of his attacks on the US central bank
-
RFK Jr. names new CDC head as staff revolt
Speed Read Kennedy installed his deputy, Jim O'Neill, as acting CDC director
-
DC prosecutors lose bid to indict sandwich thrower
Speed Read Prosecutors sought to charge Sean Dunn with assaulting a federal officer
-
White House fires new CDC head amid agency exodus
Speed Read CDC Director Susan Monarez was ousted after butting heads with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccines
-
DOGE put Social Security data at risk, official says
Speed Read DOGE workers made the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans vulnerable to identity theft
-
Court rejects Trump suit against Maryland US judges
Speed Read Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said the executive branch had no authority to sue the judges
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policing
Speed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Speed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates
-
Abrego released from jail, faces Uganda deportation
Speed Read The wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego García is expected to be detained at an ICE check-in and deported to Uganda