• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Current price of oil as of June 16, 2026

2

Team USA star Ricardo Pepi grew up in a trailer in El Paso—and his parents pawned their car title to fuel his soccer dream. Now, he’s in the World Cup

3

Cursor’s 25-year-old CEO is a former Google intern who just cemented a $60 billion deal with SpaceX

1

Current price of oil as of June 16, 2026

2

Team USA star Ricardo Pepi grew up in a trailer in El Paso—and his parents pawned their car title to fuel his soccer dream. Now, he’s in the World Cup

3

Cursor’s 25-year-old CEO is a former Google intern who just cemented a $60 billion deal with SpaceX
MPWMost Powerful Women

Watch Sen. Amy Klobuchar Joke About the Time She Was Publicly Mistaken for Al Franken’s Wife

Claire Zillman
By
Claire Zillman
Claire Zillman
Editor, Leadership
Down Arrow Button Icon
Claire Zillman
By
Claire Zillman
Claire Zillman
Editor, Leadership
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 12, 2017, 1:00 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Not even senators, it turns about, can escape sexist assumptions.

In a speech at Fortune‘s Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar touted her bipartisan overtures, made the economic case for saving the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and explained how women govern differently.

But her biggest applause line came as she recounted an experience that many women in the room could relate to—being mistaken for a powerful man’s wife.

Klobuchar, a Democrat, won her office in 2006, becoming the first woman elected to represent Minnesota in the U.S. Senate. Her decade-long tenure also makes her the state’s senior senator. Her junior counterpart is fellow Democrat Al Franken, the one-time comedian and Saturday Night Live performer, who won office in a 2008 election.

Subscribe: The Broadsheet, Fortune’s newsletter on powerful women.

Franken’s past career as a comedy writer and actor makes him one of the Senate’s most recognizable figures, so traveling with him—Klobuchar told the Summit—often means encountering enthusiastic fans who are unaware of Klobuchar’s own track record.

Klobuchar recalled the time, about a week after Franken took office, that a fan in an airport asked Klobuchar if she worked with Franken.

“I say, ‘Well, yes, I do,'” she told the MPW audience. “And they’re like, ‘Will you take my picture with him?’ So every time this happens, I want to take a picture of myself on selfie mode and say, ‘Here’s a great picture of a senator!’”

Read More: Apple Is Counting on This Star Exec to Reboot Its Sales in China

An especially memorable instance of mistaken identity occurred one night as Klobuchar and Franken boarded a Delta flight from Washington, D.C., to Minnesota.

“[T]he plane was filled with Minnesotans, but the flight crew was from Atlanta,” Klobuchar said on Monday. “[The] flight attendant was very exuberant, and she gets on the microphone and says, ‘Everyone, we have celebrities on the plane! Mr. and Mrs. Al Franken!’”

The plane erupted with laughter, Klobuchar said, as Franken told the flight attendant that Klobuchar was actually the other senator from Minnesota.

Read More: HPE’s Meg Whitman Won’t Be Uber’s CEO. But She Could Be the First Female President

Klobuchar explains what happens next: “The flight attendant gets back on the microphone and says, ‘How cool is this, husband and wife senators!’”

“True story, that happened to me,” she told the MPW audience. “I’m sure you have similar stories, but not quite one like that.”

About the Author
Claire Zillman
By Claire ZillmanEditor, Leadership
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Claire Zillman is a senior editor at Fortune, overseeing leadership stories. 

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in MPW

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in MPW

Meloni quit smoking; notorious bike-hater Trump gets gifted a bike; Macron loses his watch: Hot mic moments from the G7 summit
EuropeDonald Trump
Meloni quit smoking; notorious bike-hater Trump gets gifted a bike; Macron loses his watch: Hot mic moments from the G7 summit
By The Associated Press, Rob Gillies, Sylvie Corbet, Darlene Superville and Collin BinkleyJune 16, 2026
20 hours ago
REE Corp. chair Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh spent 40 years navigating Vietnam’s economy. Here’s what she thinks comes next
MagazineVietnam
REE Corp. chair Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh spent 40 years navigating Vietnam’s economy. Here’s what she thinks comes next
By Nicholas GordonJune 16, 2026
1 day ago
claudia
North AmericaWorld Cup
‘All of this sould prompt reflection’: Sheinbaum says World Cup tickets are too expensive for most Mexicans
By The Associated PressJune 15, 2026
2 days ago
non
MPWNon-Profit
America’s nonprofits and foundations launch huge PR campaign because Washington is treating them like an enemy
By James Pollard and The Associated PressJune 15, 2026
2 days ago
Stella Li speaking on stage
C-SuiteBYD
BYD wants to become the world’s largest automaker in five years. Stella Li is the executive selling that vision to the world
By Beatrice NolanJune 15, 2026
2 days ago
Gwynne Shotwell, President & COO, SpaceX
Startups & VentureSpaceX
Meet Gwynne Shotwell, the engineer-turned-COO who runs SpaceX in platform heels and is now worth over $2 billion
By Eva RoytburgJune 15, 2026
2 days ago

Most Popular

Current price of oil as of June 16, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 16, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 16, 2026
1 day ago
Team USA star Ricardo Pepi grew up in a trailer in El Paso—and his parents pawned their car title to fuel his soccer dream. Now, he’s in the World Cup
Success
Team USA star Ricardo Pepi grew up in a trailer in El Paso—and his parents pawned their car title to fuel his soccer dream. Now, he’s in the World Cup
By Preston ForeJune 15, 2026
2 days ago
Cursor’s 25-year-old CEO is a former Google intern who just cemented a $60 billion deal with SpaceX
AI
Cursor’s 25-year-old CEO is a former Google intern who just cemented a $60 billion deal with SpaceX
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJune 16, 2026
23 hours ago
'Work hard, stay loyal, and the system will reward you': the Boomer credo is a Gen X betrayal and a Millennial pipe dream
Success
'Work hard, stay loyal, and the system will reward you': the Boomer credo is a Gen X betrayal and a Millennial pipe dream
By Nick LichtenbergJune 16, 2026
24 hours ago
Hundreds of Stanford students walked out of their grad ceremony to protest Google CEO’s commencement speech. It wasn’t all about AI
Big Tech
Hundreds of Stanford students walked out of their grad ceremony to protest Google CEO’s commencement speech. It wasn’t all about AI
By Tristan BoveJune 15, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of June 15, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 15, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 15, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.