Mostly what I want to say here is people in Show business (Al Franken was on Saturday Night Live during the 1980s) function differently (in comedy) than most of us do in real life. That's not to say that show business is fake (which mostly it is). However, comedy tends to be a parody of real life like on Saturday Night Live. However, being a U.S. Senator is a very different thing than being on Saturday Night Live too. And Franken somehow now got caught in the middle by a show business indescrection while practicing for a USO show.
What I find interesting about this is that Franken respects women but also is out of the 1970s and 1980s with Saturday Night Live where literally anything goes (or went) then in those years. So, in present mores (politically correct ones) it is difficult to apply them to people raised with different mores then.
Now you see the contrast between someone who respects women and who has apologized (Senator Franken) and someone who won't even admit raping teenagers ongoing like (Roy Moore and President Trump).
Al Franken on Saturday Night Live - NBC.com
www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/cast/al-franken-14791
Explore Al Franken's characters and sketches on Saturday Night Live.
Watch Daily Affirmation: Stuart Under-Prepares From Saturday Night ...
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Stuart Smalley admits that he over-prepared for his last show and that he will not repeat that mistake and will do ...Watch Saturday Night Live Highlight: Weekend Update Segment - Al ...
https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/...al-franken/n8832
Watch Saturday Night Live highlight 'Weekend Update Segment - Al Franken' on NBC.com.
Watch Daily Affirmation: Stuart Smalley on Politics From Saturday ...
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Oct 3, 1992
Watch Daily Affirmation: Stuart Smalley on Politics from Saturday Night Live online at NBC.com. ... Stuart ...Al Franken - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Franken
Woman says Franken groped, kissed her without consent in 2006
Al Franken accuser blames our culture 01:24
Story highlights
- Leeann Tweeden says she was kissed without her consent by Al Franken
- The allegations come at a time when Congress is examining sexual harassment
(CNN)A
female radio news anchor said Thursday that Minnesota Democratic Sen.
Al Franken groped and "forcibly kissed" her without her consent during
an overseas USO tour in 2006, two years before Franken was elected to
the Senate.
The revelations have prompted Franken to apologize and ignited calls for a Senate ethics investigation into Franken's behavior.
Leeann Tweeden is now a morning news anchor on TalkRadio 790 KABC in Los Angeles and posted her story in a lengthy post on the station's website.
"You
knew exactly what you were doing," Tweeden wrote. "You forcibly kissed
me without my consent, grabbed my breasts while I was sleeping and had
someone take a photo of you doing it, knowing I would see it later, and
be ashamed."
The revelations come
amid a growing national furor over sexual harassment and misconduct,
including a remarkable House hearing earlier this week in which
lawmakers addressed what they described as a rampant sexual harassment
problem on Capitol Hill.
Republican
campaign arms have already tied Democratic candidates to Franken, but
members of Congress have largely agreed to leave the allegations to a
committee investigation. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have each called on the Senate
ethics committee to review Tweeden's account against Franken. Franken
has said he would cooperate with an investigation.
Sources
briefed on the matter say that Franken was emotional and upset as he
apologized to staff Thursday. Franken skipped all Senate votes and the
Democratic lunches, where he would have interacted with colleagues. He
has not, sources say, spoken to most of them.
What happened in December 2006
In
her post, Tweeden says the harassment occurred as the two rehearsed for
a USO skit written by Franken in which he was supposed to kiss her. She
writes that Franken repeatedly insisted they rehearse the kissing scene
despite her protests. When she relented, she says, Franken "put his
hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and
aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth."
"Senator Franken, you wrote the script," Tweeden wrote. "But there's nothing funny about sexual assault."
She also included a photo in which Franken appears to grab her breast while she's asleep.
"I
couldn't believe it. He groped me, without my consent, while I was
asleep," Tweeden writes. "I felt violated all over again. Embarrassed.
Belittled. Humiliated."
Franken apologizes twice
In
a statement to reporters, Franken said he doesn't remember the forced
kissing, but that said he shouldn't have behaved the way he did in the
photo.
"I certainly don't remember
the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest
apologies to Leeann," Franken said. "As to the photo, it was clearly
intended to be funny but wasn't. I shouldn't have done it."
Franken released a longer statement several
hours after his initial one, where he delivered a lengthier apology and
said he "didn't know what" had been in his head when he took the
actions in the photo.
"The
first thing I want to do is apologize: to Leeann, to everyone else who
was part of that tour, to everyone who has worked for me, to everyone I
represent, and to everyone who counts on me to be an ally and supporter
and champion of women. There's more I want to say, but the first and
most important thing—and if it's the only thing you care to hear, that's
fine — is: I'm sorry," Franken said in the emailed statement.
He
continued, "I respect women. I don't respect men who don't. And the
fact that my own actions have given people a good reason to doubt that
makes me feel ashamed."
Franken
continued to say he didn't remember the exact actions of the rehearsal
skit, but added, "I understand why we need to listen to and believe
women's experiences."
Tweeden: 'There's no reason why I shouldn't accept his apology'
At a news conference, Tweeden was asked if she accepted Franken's apology.
"There's no reason why I shouldn't accept his apology," she said. "I wasn't looking for anything."
Tweeden
also recounted her 2006 encounter with Franken during the news
conference, describing in detail the moment in which Franken kissed her.
She said he stuck his tongue in her mouth "so fast."
"All
I could remember is that his lips were really wet and it was slimy. In
my mind I called him fish lips the rest of the trip because that's what
it reminded me of," she said.
Tweeden said she "pushed" Franken off, and that she almost punched him.
"I
pushed him off with my hands, I just remember I almost punched him ...
Every time I see him now, my hands clench into fists," she said.
After
the incident, which Tweeden said she did not report at the time, she
said she made sure she was never alone with Franken again.
Asked whether she believes Franken should step down, Tweeden said that "people make mistakes."
"I'm
not calling on him to step down," she said. "That's not my place."
However, she added that her opinion may change if other women come
forward with similar allegations.
Tweeden did not report Franken's behavior, and the USO released a statement saying that it had never been reported to the group.
"We
have no knowledge of it," Ashley McLellan, a spokesperson for the USO,
told CNN. "The report is deeply disturbing and does not reflect the
values of the USO."
Congress confronts harassment and misconduct among its own
The
comments about Franken come at a time when Congress is conducting a
review of its policy for addressing sexual harassment and how it handles
complaints. The House held a hearing on the issue earlier this week,
and both chambers now will require sexual harassment training. The
changes to Capitol Hill follow the ground-shaking allegations of sexual
harassment and misconduct that have swept industries, organizations and
institutions worldwide.
Franken acknowledged that cultural change in his revised statement.
"Over
the last few months, all of us — including and especially men who
respect women — have been forced to take a good, hard look at our own
actions and think (perhaps, shamefully, for the first time) about how
those actions have affected women," Franken said.
Tweeden said she's coming forward now after hearing testimony from women -- including California Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier -- who have shared similar stories of men in power who have committed sexual harassment and sexual assault.
"I
want to have the same effect on them that Congresswoman Jackie Speier
had on me," Tweeden wrote. "I want them, and all the other victims of
sexual assault, to be able to speak out immediately, and not keep their
stories --and their anger-- locked up inside for years, or decades."
Tweeden's
revelations about Franken's behavior rocked the Capitol, with a number
of lawmakers -- Republicans and Democrats -- calling for action.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, said the issue should be referred to the ethics committee.
"As
with all credible allegations of sexual harassment or assault, I
believe the Ethics Committee should review the matter. I hope the
Democratic Leader will join me on this," McConnell said in a written
statement. "Regardless of party, harassment and assault are completely
unacceptable—in the workplace or anywhere else."
In his own statement, Schumer said that sexual harassment is "never acceptable and must not be tolerated."
"I
hope and expect that the Ethics Committee will fully investigate this
troubling incident, as they should with any credible allegation of
sexual harassment," he added."
Franken has said he would cooperate with the committee's investigation.
Washington
Sen. Patty Murray, the highest ranking woman in the Democratic Senate
leadership, said Franken's apology "doesn't reverse what he's done or
end the matter."
A similarly sharp rebuke came from Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat.
"This
should not have happened to Leeann Tweeden," Klobuchar said in a
statement. "I strongly condemn this behavior and the Senate Ethics
Committee must open an investigation. This is another example of why we
need to change work environments and reporting practices across the
nation, including in Congress."
The political fallout
The
allegations against Franken quickly crossed into politics, with the
National Republican Senatorial Committee tying senators running for
re-election to Franken and the National Republican Congressional
Committee demanding that Democratic candidates who had received campaign
money from Franken to return those donations.
Josh
Hawley, Missouri's Republican attorney general, who is running for the
US Senate, used the event to needle Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, who
is up for re-election in 2018 and considered one of the most vulnerable
Democrats.
McCaskill tweeted that
she was "shocked and concerned" and that the behavior described by
Tweeden is "completely unacceptable." She also said she supports calls
for an ethics investigation.
"This
is not enough," Hawley tweeted, calling on McCaskill to join him in
calls for Franken's resignation. "Return the money he gave you & the
money he raised for @MODemParty."
McCaskill told CNN that returning Franken's campaign donations is "basically under consideration right now."
Several
Democrats, including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Tammy
Baldwin of Wisconsin, have indicated that they will donate money they've
received from Franken.
An aide to
Gillibrand told CNN that she plans to give all the money she's ever
received from Franken's PAC -- which they say totals $12,500 -- to the
group Protect our Defenders, which combats rape and sexual assault in
the military.
Baldwin told MSNBC that she plans to donate campaign contributions from Franken to a women's veteran initiative in Wisconsin.
Montana
Sen. Jon Tester, also a Democrat, said he will donate $25,000 from
Franken to a Montana organization that supports survivors of domestic
and sexual violence.
This story has been updated and will continue to update with developments.
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