Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand said at a campaign stop in Iowa Thursday that she and her colleagues miss Al Franken, who she helped pressure into resigning from the Senate in 2017 over his apparent sexual misconduct.
“We are all concerned about Sen. Franken and we all miss him. He was someone who really served us well on the judiciary committee and was a strong senator,” the New York lawmaker said in Council Bluffs. “But the truth is he had eight credible allegations against him for groping and forcible kissing.”
Her remarks were taped by America Rising, a Republican opposition research group.
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.
“Of course he had every right to stick out and go to his ethics committee investigation. That might have taken another six months, nine months. Of course he had that right. Of course he had the right to sue all the women who accused him all his rights,” Gillibrand said. “He chose to resign. that was his decision and his decision alone. No other member of Congress or senator can make another member resign.”
Gillibrand’s charge against Franken created a fissure among certain Democratic voters over what some feel as an overly-harsh reaction to his alleged behavior. The New York Times reported in March that Gillibrand’s presidential campaign fears that some prominent donors are withholding money over the incident.
“There’s no question that the first quarter was adversely impacted by certain establishment donors — and many online — who continue to punish Kirsten for standing up for her values and for women,” an internal campaign memo read. In quarter one of 2019, Gillibrand’s presidential campaign raised only $3 million.
Recent polls also show Gillibrand struggling to gain a foothold in an increasingly large Democratic primary field. A Monmouth survey released in April showed Gillibrand polling at 1% among Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa.
[Read more: Joe Biden’s Al Franken problem]
