Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) announced on the Senate floor today that he will be resigning after multiple allegations of misconduct.
Franken noted that there was some “irony” in his resignation.
“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 said.
Franken’s resignation speech comes a day after more than 20 Democratic lawmakers called for him to step down in light of the mounting sexual misconduct allegations against him.
“Over the last few weeks a number of women have come forward to talk about how they felt my actions had affected them. I was shocked. I was upset,” said Franken, a former Saturday Night Live writer and comedian who has been the junior senator from Minnesota since 2009. “But in responding to their claims, I also wanted to be respectful of that broader conversation because all women deserve to be heard and their experiences taken seriously.
“But this decision is not about me. It’s about the people of Minnesota,” Franken added.
