Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) met with Culinary Union members in Las Vegas, Nevada Tuesday night during the CNN town hall for her opponents. The Culinary Union is made up of the over 60,000 hotel housekeepers, bartenders, restaurant and casino workers, and others who make up the backbone of the entire city. Many members are Spanish-speaking and people of color, yet it was still puzzling why Klobuchar began her speech with a bizarre anecdote.
According to Culinary members and reporters present, she began by saying, "My name is Amy, but when I was in fourth grade Spanish they gave me the name Elena."
Sometimes in foreign language classes, students will take on a name that is from the culture of the language they are learning.
But saying it as an opener to a political conversation to relate to Spanish-speaking people was something that took some by surprise.
You can see the criticism below: