The Worst Boss in Washington
Amy Klobuchar runs an office operating on fear, anger, and throwing objects
In 2019, former Amy Klobuchar aides went public with stories about what it was like to work for her.
Reports in the New York Times, BuzzFeed, HuffPost, and Vox described a boss who berated staff over small mistakes, threw office objects in anger, and humiliated employees in front of others.
Klobuchar’s former staff described her as “intolerably cruel” and the work culture as “a culture of fear and resentment;” others have gone so far as to say “that sort of cruelty shouldn’t be acceptable for anyone.”
One former staffer even said Klobuchar made him clean a comb she had used to eat a salad after he forgot her fork. The reports were serious enough that then-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid reportedly confronted her about her treatment of staff.
Amy Klobuchar has defended herself by saying she is simply “a tough boss,” but a governor manages tens of thousands of state employees. How she treats the people who work for her offers a revealing preview of how she would run Minnesota.
Amy Klobuchar ate a salad with a comb and then directed the aide who forgot the utensils to clean it.
Amy flung a binder into the air, hitting an aide, according to former staff.
Amy sent a staffer a late-night email calling their policy brief “the worst,” a label she reportedly reused on other staff in following weeks.
Amy Klobuchar was the subject of a New York Times investigation into her treatment of staff.
Amy was the subject of a BuzzFeed News investigation headlined: “Staffers, Documents Show Amy Klobuchar’s Wrath Toward Her Aides.”
Amy Klobuchar defended her treatment of staff publicly rather than apologized for it, saying she can be a tough boss with high expectations.
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