The search term, “Sarah Silverman bikini,” is trending online amid her statement to media sources about her sadness in the wake of Al Franken’s resignation from the U.S. Senate.
On Tuesday, searches for Sarah Silverman in a bikini were up in a big way, according to Google Trends, a data-driven algorithm that tracks and ranks keywords and phrases that users are querying in real-time. Google ranked searches for “Sarah Silverman bikini” a “Breakout,” which means a large number of people, over a period of time — in this case, over a span of four hours — were actively searching for the specific term or phrase.
It’s unclear why netizens were suddenly drawn to Sarah donning swimwear. A search using the same phrase returned no results for sources currently covering Silverman in a bikini. However, TMZ broke a story today about the comedienne and her opinion about outgoing Minnesota Senator Al Franken.
Photojournalists caught up with Sarah on Monday at Los Angeles International Airport and asked her to comment about Franken’s scheduled upcoming resignation the following day. Franken, a former SNL alum, is Silverman’s “old pal,” according to sources.
Sarah Silverman defends Franken: Politicians who “lie” and “deny” get to keep their jobs https://t.co/JoKA930Bpr pic.twitter.com/oaZHUMtOZU
— The Hill (@thehill) January 2, 2018
In the latter part of 2017, Franken was allegedly “pressured” by fellow lawmakers to step down over allegations of sexual misconduct before and during his time in politics. Franken admitted to some of the allegations, saying that he used bad judgment during his interactions with some of the alleged women who came forward with their #metoo stories.
Silverman said she is “sad” that Franken decided to resign from politics. She has known Franken for decades and insists that he is deeply concerned about his constituents and their wellbeing. Still, she applauds Franken’s alleged victims for coming forth with their stories and celebrates their empowerment.
Sarah Silverman then turned her angst toward Donald Trump, who she chides for not following suit by resigning like Franken in the face of his own allegations from women who accuse him of sexual misconduct. Sarah said the president is sending children a mixed message that political figures can “lie” and “deny” immoral allegations in order to retain their standing, according to a report by the Hill .
“We’ve taught our children, by looking at politicians, is the ones that take responsibility for their actions lose, and the ones that deny, deny, deny and lie, and don’t admit any wrongdoing, and don’t say sorry, they don’t have to lose their jobs
“We have a president who has — what, 20 women who’ve accused him of sexual assault. This is what our children are learning.”
Searches for “Sarah Silverman bikini” appear to follow the same patterns as two others that cropped up early Tuesday when NBC announced that Hoda Kotb would serve as a permanent co-anchor with Savannah Guthrie on the Today Show . Kotb replaced former Today host Matt Lauer, who was terminated months ago for alleged sexual misconduct.
Searches for Hoda and Savannah in a bikini were up dramatically, according to Google. And similar to Sarah Silverman’s “Breakout” bikini query, there were no stories being actively reported at the time in connection with the Today co-hosts wearing bikinis.
Sarah posted a playful Instagram picture of her in a bikini back in October.