Sen. Amy Klobuchar once ate salad with a hair comb, then made her aide clean it

Sen. Amy Klobuchar's legend as a tough (or worse) boss continued to grow Friday, when The New York Times reported on a unique lunch situation that resulted in her eating salad with a hair comb and making an aide clean it afterward.

The Democrat from Minnesota, who is running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, has gained a reputation for mistreating and demeaning staff members. This anecdote may be the strangest so far, however. From the Times:

Senator Amy Klobuchar was hungry, forkless and losing patience.

An aide, joining her on a trip to South Carolina in 2008, had procured a salad for his boss while hauling their bags through an airport terminal. But once onboard, he delivered the grim news: He had fumbled the plastic eating utensils before reaching the gate, and the crew did not have any forks on such a short flight.

What happened next was typical: Ms. Klobuchar berated her aide instantly for the slip-up. What happened after was not: She pulled a comb from her bag and began eating her salad with it, according to four people familiar with the episode.

Then she handed the comb back to her staff member with a directive: Clean it.

Klobuchar has spent some of her early presidential campaign answering questions about various stories of her berating staff members, throwing binders in anger, and routinely contacting staff members at all hours of the night. Some reports even say Klobuchar has had trouble getting a 2020 staff together because of her reputation.

To an extent, Klobuchar embraces it.

"I don't know, it's all anonymous," Klobuchar said of the reports. "I will say that I'm proud of our staff. And yes, I can be a tough boss—that's obvious. But that's because I have high expectations of those who work for me, and I have a high expectation for our country."