California’s U.S. Senators joined a flood of other Democrats and party leaders who called on Sen. Al Franken to resign on Wednesday, following new sexual harassment allegations against the Minnesota Democrat.
“Sexual harassment and misconduct should not be allowed by anyone and should not occur anywhere,” Sen. Kamala Harris said in a tweet. “I believe the best thing for Senator Franken to do is step down.”
Sexual harassment and misconduct should not be allowed by anyone and should not occur anywhere. I believe the best thing for Senator Franken to do is step down.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) December 6, 2017
Sen. Dianne Feinstein concurred. “I think resignation is the right thing for him to do,” she said.
It’s clear the American people don’t look lightly on these kinds of actions, no matter who they’re committed by, and the number of complaints against Senator Franken is a concern. I think resignation is the right thing for him to do.
— Senator Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) December 6, 2017
As of Wednesday morning, almost a third of the Democratic caucus in the Senate had called on Franken to leave, in a rare denunciation of a sitting senator by leaders from his own party. The move was led by female U.S. Senators, and Harris was one of the first to say Franken should go.
Seven women have said that Franken, a two-term senator and former comedian, groped them, kissed them without their consent, or made other inappropriate advances. On Wednesday morning, a former Congressional aide told Politico that Franken tried to forcibly kiss her after taping his radio show in 2006, before he was elected to Congress, saying it was “my right as an entertainer” to do so. The woman was not named, and Franken denied the allegation.
Franken has apologized for some of his actions, but said last month that he would stay in Congress. His office said he would make an announcement on Thursday.
Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Maria Cantwell of Washington, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Patty Murray of Washington also said Franken needed to leave the Senate.
Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Sherrod Brown of Ohio followed suit. Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez also called on Franken to step down.
“Enough is enough,” Gillibrand wrote on Facebook.
California news anchor Leeann Tweeden was the first woman to publicly accuse Franken of groping and kissing her.
The outpouring of condemnations from Democrats comes after Republicans have slammed Franken, with President Donald Trump tarring him “Frankenstein” on Twitter. At the same time, most Republican senators have avoided calling for Roy Moore, the GOP Senate candidate in Alabama, to end his campaign after allegations that he sexually abused teenage girls.
