Al Franken, a comedian and former Democratic senator from Minnesota who resigned over allegations of sexual misconduct, has indicated that the idea of running for the Senate again is “tempting.”
Reporter Jonathan Capehart from the Washington Post recently questioned Franken about whether he will ever run for office again.
Franken said, “I don’t know. “Undoubtedly, I cherished my time in the Senate. I adored my job. I completed a lot. I don’t think I could have done anything there that I couldn’t have done here. It would therefore be enticing to attempt to accomplish that again.”
Franken said in reply, “Perhaps. I’m not even 70.” Franken continued by pointing out that 88-year-old Republican Senator from Iowa Chuck Grassley is also up for reelection. “Well, you’ve got all the time in the world,” Capeheart retorted. Franken replied, laughing, “Yes, I do.
Former Democratic U.S. senator for Minnesota Al Franken, a former “Saturday Night Live” comic, has stated he finds the idea of running for the Senate “tempting.” On November 4, 2008, at a gathering at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in St. Paul, Minnesota, you can see Franken addressing the crowd in the picture.
Occupy Democrats, a grassroots political group with over 251,400 Twitter followers, responded to Franken’s remark by requesting that their supporters repost their posts if they supported Franken running for office again.
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Over 3,300 people had retweeted the organization’s article after about an hour. The 206 commentators on the article alternatively expressed excitement and disapproval over Franken’s potential return to politics.
Every video I saw of him holding that position showed him to be meticulous, organized, and very sharp, according to Twitter user @MichaelStreiter. He ought never to have left, and having him back would be extremely beneficial to all Democrats.
Every video I saw of him while he was holding that seat showed him to be meticulous, organized, and extraordinarily intelligent. He ought never to have left, and having him back would be very advantageous to all Democrats.
@TIFFLS, a different Twitter user, wrote: “I’m unsure. He shouldn’t have resigned, in my opinion. But when he did, I significantly lost my respect and trust for him, and I’m not sure I want him back.”
After eight women accused Franken of sexual misconduct, the senator announced his resignation from the Senate on January 2, 2018. When women first started accusing other well-known men of sexual harassment, including film producer Harvey Weinstein, comedian Louis C.K., TV journalist Matt Lauer, and hip-hop producer Russell Simmons, he resigned shortly after the #MeToo movement got underway.
An image of Franken in 2006 while sleeping in military fatigues and a bulletproof vest was uploaded online by conservative talk-radio host Leeann Tweeden, who made the first accusation against Franken.
She and Franken were performing together in a two-week United Services Organization (USO) production for military personnel at the time. During a practice for one of their sketches, she said that Franken kissed her inappropriately on the tongue.
Tweeden, a supporter of Trump who endorsed the “birther” theory calling for former President Barack Obama to make his birth certificate publicly available, broke the news on a right-wing conservative radio station after pondering whether to ask Fox News to assist her in doing so.
Franken wrote Tweeden an apology, “There is no justification, and I can see how that picture could make you feel violated. It doesn’t matter how I recall that rehearsal; what matters is how it affected me. I’m sorry if my actions caused you to feel violated.”
Tweeden acknowledged his regret and clarified that she wasn’t calling for his resignation. However, seven additional women—three of whom chose to remain anonymous—came forward shortly after, accusing Franken of impermissible groping and making attempts to kiss them.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York was one among the first of the thirty-two Democratic senators to call for Al Franken’s resignation.
Gillibrand stated that “Senator Franken was credibly accused by eight women of groping and forcible kissing.” “They were all confirmed in real-time. In two of them, he was a senator at the time. A legislative employee was the final to come to light.”
PolitiFact claims that not every complaint was supported.
Gillibrand was slammed for calling for Franken’s resignation by Ricki Seidman, a Democratic communications expert who assisted Anita Hill in bringing sexual harassment allegations to light during Clarence Thomas’ confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court.
Seidman added, “By leading the call for Senator Franken, who has been a champion for women, to resign based on the flimsy accounts that have so far come to light, you are cheapening my experience as a victim of sexual assault.”
“I find it repulsive and INSULTING to women that you are associating Senator Franken with Republicans like Donald Trump and Roy Moore,” said Franken. “I know of considerably worse behavior in the Senate, and FAR worse behavior among Republicans like Donald Trump and Roy Moore.”
According to Jane Mayer, a reporter for The New Yorker, nine current and former senators who called for his resignation have since acknowledged that their actions were improper.
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The majority of the senators Mayer highlighted felt that the accusations against Franken ought to have been looked into by the Senate Ethics Committee or at the very least given a more thorough investigation by an independent investigative agency.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer allegedly warned Franken that failing to quit would result in him being censured and losing his committee assignments.
He went on to say that Schumer and his Democratic colleagues denied him the right to due process and that major media outlets didn’t verify his accusers’ claims before publishing them.
Schumer said in a statement to The New Yorker, “For the sake of the Senate and the nation, Al Franken’s decision to resign was the right one. Although it was unavoidable given the circumstances, I regret losing him as a colleague.”
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