Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg said he would not have urged former Sen. Al Franken to resign, at least not without more information about the sexual misconduct allegations facing the Minnesota Democrat.
“I think it was his decision to make, but I think the way that we basically held him to a higher standard than the GOP does their people has been used against us,” Buttigieg told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews during a town hall Monday.
Matthews asked Buttigieg if Democratic leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, were right to encourage Franken to step down.
“I would not have applied that pressure at that time before we knew more,” Buttigieg said.
Franken resigned early last year after several women accused him of sexual misconduct.
Another 2020 candidate, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, said last month she and her colleagues miss Franken. Gillibrand was the first Democratic senator to call for Franken to leave office after a number of women shared uncomfortable experiences with him. Over two dozen other Democratic senators eventually joined Gillibrand in asking Franken to step down.
