Al Frankin stepped up to the podium today and announced he was resigning, but it wasn’t because he did anything wrong as a senator — it was because this is what the people of his state wanted. Franken will resign from the Senate within the coming weeks, he said during his speech today.
Franken is one of the rising numbers of men in the political, business, and entertainment fields who have found themselves without a job after accusers stepped up to tell their stories of inappropriate sexual behavior. In Franken’s case, there are even pictures to go along with the accusations waged against him, which were submitted by one of the eight accusers to speak up so far.
Franken wasn’t going away anytime soon, and he made that clear in his speech by vowing to continue his work as an activist in the private sector. His decision to vacate his Senate seat came after some of his Democratic colleagues urged him to step down, and from what Franken said today, it is the only reason he has decided to do so.
According to USA Today , Franken threw in a few “digs in his speech ” at both Donald Trump and Roy Moore.
“I, of all people, am aware that there is some irony in the fact that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party.”
Franken tossing Trump and Moore under the bus during his long goodbye prompted some famous names to gravitate to Twitter and weigh-in when it comes to their overall thoughts about Franken’s presentation today , reports Fox News .
Governor Mike Huckabee tweeted, “Stunning speech by Franken. Not because he resigned, but lack of contrition or apology was startling. He should have just said, ‘I’m good enough; I’m smart enough; but doggone it, people just don’t like me anymore.’”
Ann Coulter wasn’t too far behind Huckabee with her thoughts.
“Brilliant linguist Al Franken invents a new form of apology: Quote Wellstone, trash Trump and never say the word ‘sorry.’”
There were some who agreed with Franken and some who semi-agreed with the soon to be former Senator.
Ari Fleischer wrote, “Franken should not have resigned. His fate should have been left 2the people of MN. Moore, who had sexual contact w a 14-yr old, should drop out. Conyers, who hit on his employees, should have resigned. Franken is a creep who acted inappropriately, but his facts are different.”
Bernie Sanders also let his thoughts be known in a tweet today.
“We have a president who acknowledged on tape that he assaulted women. I would hope that he pays attention to what’s going on and think about resigning.”
Vanity Fair suggests that Franken “roasts Trump on his way out the door” and becomes “a pawn in Democrat’s chess match against Roy Moore and Donald Trump.” This Vanity Fair article was yet another source that pegs Franken as “hardly contrite” in his resignation speech today.
At one point, Franken said he wanted to make things very clear: he is “not admitting to doing things that, in fact, I haven’t done.” His resignation was the result of his Democratic colleagues’ wishes and not his own.
Franken’s resignation was “apparently calculated to highlight how Republicans have rallied around Trump and Moore,” reports Vanity Fair . In so many words, Franken was the sacrifice they needed in order to do so.
According to Vanity Fair , the Wall Street Journal editorial board passed along a warning on Wednesday night as Franken’s resignation loomed.
“The Democrats are eliminating their stains, while the Republicans are endorsing theirs. You have to believe in magic to think this is going to end well for Republicans.”
It looks like there is more to Franken’s resignation than meets the eye today. Is this much bigger than Al Franken and his resignation as suggested?