In the two weeks since sexual misconduct allegations began to surface against him, Senator Al Franken has repeatedly apologized to the four women who have accused him of groping them. He’s said he’s “embarrassed and ashamed,” and insisted that “we have to listen to women and respect what they say.” But he’s been notably quiet on an important point: whether he thinks their accusations are true.
After broadcaster Leeann Tweeden accused Franken on Nov. 16 of forcibly kissing and groping her during a 2006 USO tour, three other women came forward independently to say the senator had groped their buttocks while taking a pictures with them years prior.
“He put his hand full-fledged on my rear,” Lindsay Menz told CNN of an encounter in 2010. “It wasn’t around my waist. It wasn’t around my hip or side. It was definitely on my butt.”
Speaking to reporters Monday, Franken tried to walk a fine line, neither corroborating nor denying the accusations.
“I take a lot of pictures in Minnesota, thousands of pictures. I meet tens of thousands of people,” Franken said. “So those are instances that I do not remember. From the stories, it’s been clear that there are some women, and one is too many, who feel that I have done something disrespectful, and that’s hurt them, and for that I am tremendously sorry.”
Asked Monday whether there was a chance more women would come forward to accuse him of misconduct, the senator demurred.
“If you had asked me two weeks ago, would any woman come forward with an allegation like this, I would have said no,” he said. “And so I cannot speculate. This has been a shock, and it’s been extremely humbling.”
Why can’t Franken just come out and say whether he believes the women? The answer seems clear: Franken is trying to rewrite the playbook for successfully surviving a sexual harassment scandal in our newly conscious post-Weinstein culture. Where the politicos of yesteryear would have issued a terse, blanket denial before sweeping the accusations into the past, Franken is trying a new tactic: the terse, blanket apology, followed by sweeping the accusations into the past. He seems to have deduced—probably correctly—that the damage his admission will do his career is less than the damage done by appearing to silence his accusers.
“What I’m going to do is I’m going to start my job, I’m going to go back to work, I’m going to work as hard as I can for the people of Minnesota, and I’m going to start right now,” Franken said abruptly, ending his Monday conference. He vanished back into his office, ignoring the shouted questions that followed him.
Whether Franken’s political career will survive this scandal is anyone’s guess. But if he does, he’ll have shown other accused misbehavers a hopeful lifeline: instead of a disingenuous denial, a disingenuous apology.
