Democrats open floodgates urging Al Franken to resign

At first, it was just one Facebook post Wednesday morning from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand urging her colleague Sen. Al Franken to resign, making her the first Senate Democrat to do so. Within an hour, at least 10 Democratic senators and the chairman of the Democratic National Committee were demanding the same thing. 

Within two hours, New York’s Gillibrand, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Patty Murray of Washington, Mazie Keiko Hirono of Hawaii, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Kamala Harris of California, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Maria Cantwell of Washington and Dick Durbin of Illinois released statements and social media posts in the wake of the growing number of women alleging Franken sexually harassed them. 

Franken’s office announced he will make an announcement Thursday, although it’s unclear yet what that announcement will be. 

“While Senator Franken is entitled to have the Ethics Committee conclude its review, I believe it would be better for our country if he sent a clear message that any kind of mistreatment of women in our society isn’t acceptable by stepping aside to let someone else serve,” Gillibrand, the first to speak up Wednesday morning, said in a Facebook statement. “In the wake of the election of President Trump, in just the last few months, our society is changing, and I encourage women and men to keep speaking up to continue this progress. At this moment, we need to speak hard truths or lose our chance to make lasting change.”

“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,” Harris said on Twitter. 

McCaskill put her statement quite simply: “Al Franken should resign,” she tweeted. 

The senators calling for Franken to step aside were initially all women until Casey and Donnelly weighed in shortly after. Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez also urged Franken to step aside Wednesday morning. 

The opening of the floodgates comes after yet another woman alleged Franken tried to forcibly kiss her against her will. 

The growing call for Franken to resign comes the same day that TIME magazine declared “The Silence Breakers” — those who came forward to call out sexual harassment, misconduct and assault — as their “Person of the Year.”

It also comes one day after Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan, announced his retirement from Congress amid sexual harassment allegations. 

But allegations of sexual misconduct have not had the same impact on Alabama GOP candidate for U.S. Senate, Roy Moore, who is accused of pursuing teenage girls when he was in his 30s. President Trump gave his full-throated endorsement of Moore on Monday, and the Republican National Committee (RNC) resumed its financial support for Moore shortly after. Moore, according to a poll released by CBS News on Sunday, leads his Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, 49 percent to 43 percent ahead of the Dec. 12 special election.