Democrat senator and 2020 presidential candidate has been trying to respond to criticism of abusive behavior toward staffers, and she seems to have settled on an angle (beverage warning):

Amy Klobuchar defends her staff treatment, says toughness needed when dealing with Putin https://t.co/rOu32SwJzx pic.twitter.com/FHdlKjkNC8 — CNN (@CNN) March 15, 2019

Amy Klobuchar defends her staff treatment, says toughness needed when dealing with Putin – Our write off of @PoppyHarlowCNN's interview with the Minnesota Democrat: https://t.co/H5n3xhZ0gZ — Dan Merica (@merica) March 15, 2019

Klobuchar to @PoppyHarlowCNN: "One can always do better… 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 that demands the answers." https://t.co/WSEQYCvQr1 — Dan Merica (@merica) March 15, 2019

LOL! So she’s not so much being hard on her staff as much as she’s practicing for dealing the Vladimir Putin?

No, really, though, it feels very progress-y that a politician is using her habit of personally abusing staff as a credential https://t.co/9MSgSnZBIN — Allahpundit (@allahpundit) March 15, 2019

Abusing your subordinates does not, in fact, constitute foreign policy prowess https://t.co/7T5k9pwANQ — Natalie Shure (@nataliesurely) March 15, 2019

But Klobuchar really hopes everything thinks it does, and she’s willing to bet her salad comb on it.

Abusing my staff to own the Russians https://t.co/hYKaxVu154 — Big A (@austinsmatthews) March 15, 2019

That’ll show Putin!

Mistreatment of staff is not a sign of toughness. https://t.co/vGznrCccBI — RBe (@RBPundit) March 15, 2019

“Sure, I throw binders at my staffers when they displease me — transmit THAT information to Valdimir!" https://t.co/NIEE0MJyXn — Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) March 15, 2019

I'm sure he'll bow right down when you shriek at him about punctuation & then chuck a binder at him https://t.co/D199BWHWP7 — Jim Hanson (@Uncle_Jimbo) March 15, 2019

"You know Vlad, it'd be a real shame if this binder slipped out of my hand…" https://t.co/sc4UWPKtkI — Matt Gorman (@mattsgorman) March 15, 2019

Only problem… she isn't dealing with Putin, she is dealing with her own staff. — Eternal (@Outside_85) March 15, 2019

The moment Trump is no longer in office every bit of this Dem tough guy shtick toward Putin and Russia will disappear https://t.co/Of52oP8Yaj — Noah Pollak (@NoahPollak) March 15, 2019

By then the Dems will be blowing the dust off the “re-set button” again.

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