US presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar invokes Putin to justify alleged staff mistreatment

If you're a boss whose staff are complaining you're too tough on them, US Senator Amy Klobuchar may have just given you an excuse to keep cracking your whip: just say it's the only way you can be tough and face the Russians.

Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), who announced her presidential bid in February, has been recently haunted by allegations of treating her Senate staff too harshly, creating a "hostile" environment and setting tough conditions for those who wanted paid maternal leave. Her response when confronted? It was all in the name of opposing Russia.

Telling CNN's Poppy Harlow that she simply has “high standards” – for herself, her staff and the country – Klobuchar launched into an explanation about how mistreating her staff means she is an ideal presidential candidate capable of standing up to Russian President Vladimir Putin personally.

When you're out there on the world stage and dealing with people like Vladimir Putin, yeah, you want someone who's tough.

She said she would be able to “demand the answers” and “get things done,” having had all those employees to practice on.

Being tough on one's subordinates does not necessarily mean the media will see you as being able to stand up to Putin, though – as proven by the example of US President Donald Trump, who used to bellow “You’re fired!” as he dismissed contestants on his TV show 'The Apprentice', and is now firing White House staff left and right.

Incidentally, Klobuchar has already been compared to Trump due to the fact that she allegedly has the largest annual staff turnover rate in the Senate.

The Senator dismissed such comparison, and switched from one trendy line of defense – the Russians – to another: sexism.

“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,” Klobuchar told CNN.

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