MINNEAPOLIS — Shortly after announcing her presidential bidon Sunday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) offered a defense against the recent reports that she has consistently mistreated members of her staff. “Yes, I can be tough, and yes I can push people,” Klobuchar told reporters following her rally at Minneapolis’ Boom Island Park. “I have high expectations for myself, I have high expectations for the people that work for me, but I have high expectations for this country.” She added: “In the end, there are so many great stories of our staff that have been with me for years.” Accounts from several of her former employees that surfaced in recent days describe a long history of Klobuchar constantly berating her staff and creating a hostile work environment. At least three people have withdrawn from consideration to lead her 2020 campaign, in part because of her behavior as a boss, HuffPost reported on Wednesday.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar announced her presidential candidacy on Sunday at a snowy rally in Minneapolis. Afterward, she spoke to reporters about reports that she routinely disparages many of the people who work for her.

In interviews with HuffPost and BuzzFeed, former staffers said Klobuchar regularly chastised and shouted at her employees over minor errors, berated them in late-night emails and sometimes threw objects, leaving some workers often in tears. Others said she would task them with her personal errands, such as washing dishes at her home, which violates Senate ethics rules. Klobuchar’s mistreatment of staff caused then-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to privately reprimand her in 2015, HuffPost reported, citing multiple sources. Reid does not recall if this encounter occurred, a spokesperson said. Now retired, Reid described Klobuchar as “one of the most brilliant, hardest-working members of the Senate.” An outspoken critic of President Donald Trump’s administration, Klobuchar made national headlines last year with her tough questioning of then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation hearing. She has maintained high approval ratings in her home state, where she is known for being warm and personable, and she easily won a third term in November. She joins an already crowded field seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination that includes several women ― Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii).

The rumor around here is that working for her is hell. Bruce Olson, Minneapolis resident