Hillary Clinton’s closest aide Huma Abedin is so devoted to her boss that she almost sobbed upon learning Clinton had to carry her own bag, a Newsweek profile revealed Thursday.
"Abedin took her duties so seriously, the source recalled, that when she learned that Clinton had once carried her own bag up a flight of stairs in her aide’s absence, Abedin nearly burst into tears," Newsweek reported.
The same source said that Clinton once snapped her fingers and said "Gum" to Abedin.
"A lot of times, Hillary would snap her fingers and go, ‘Gum.’ And Huma would fetch it," the source said.
Although Abedin no longer totes her boss’s bags around, she still carries Clinton’s infamous cell phone and serves her boss coffee and Mexican food.
During her 20 years by Clinton’s side, she has achieved increasing responsibility to the point where Clinton supporters go to Abedin rather than "wast[ing] time trying to find Clinton directly."
"I only would go to Huma. It’s like talking to Clinton," investor Alan Patricof told Newsweek.
As a result, Abedin has gained a reputation as a "myth" and a "mini-Clinton." According to Newsweek, "even ex-Clinton aides with no role in the campaign quake at the mention of her name."
She has adopted her boss’s icy exterior, "disingenuously" telling reporters that she hadn’t looked at thousands of her emails that were posted online as a result of Clinton's email scandal.
Abedin has also developed a Clinton-like obsession with "optics," especially after her husband Anthony Weiner was caught in two sexting scandals, once in 2011 and again during his run for New York City mayor in 2013.
She rarely shares details about her job, acutely aware of the consequences of slipping up.
"Abedin has submitted to few interviews and has never uttered a substantive word about her job. As campaign co-chair, she speaks only at closed or carefully vetted events," Newsweek wrote. "From the wounded master who taught her everything she knows, she has learned that to be candid is to be crucified."