Sen. John Kennedy said Monday he was “shocked” at the number of allegations of sexual assault and harassment from Capitol Hill and the entertainment industry recently, calling perpetrators “pigs” but adding that he needed to see evidence laid out by Capitol Hill investigations before saying whether he thought individual lawmakers should resign.
“I don’t know when they have time to make movies in Hollywood because it looks like they’re all busy molesting each other,” the Louisiana Republican said. “But now we know it’s on Capitol Hill, we know it’s in the business community, we know it’s elsewhere. I guess I’m just naive, but I had no idea there were this many pigs in the world.”
Kennedy was responding to questions from reporters about allegations against Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Republican Roy Moore, who is running for the Senate seat in Alabama. The movement of women and men coming forward with assault and harassment allegations swelled after actresses spoke about the abuse they faced from Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
Since then, several politicians have been accused of harassment or assault. Franken has been accused of an unwanted kiss and a photograph shows him appearing to grab a sleeping woman’s breasts while they were on a USO tour together before he was a senator. Several women have said he grabbed their backsides while taking photographs. Franken has apologized for his behavior and offered to make details of an ethics investigation public.
Moore has been accused of pursuing women who were in their late teens when he was in his 30s. One woman said that while he was in his 30s he made her touch him over his underwear when she was 14. Moore has denied that accusation and has refused to back out of the race.
Kennedy noted that different levels of accusations have come forward, but said people still needed to face consequences for their actions and that “there is no excuse for this. None. Zero. Nada. You pretty up all you want to, it’s still a pig.”
“First, I think any person who is the victim of sexual harassment ought to come forward, man or woman,” he said. “Number two, those accused have the right to due process. This is America. Number three, I guess I’m naive but I’m shocked that there are so many pigs in the world. I understand there are different grades of pigs. You’ve got major-league pigs, you’ve got minor league pigs, and you’ve got amateur pigs. But if any of them did — and I think some of them did — the things that are alleged, they’re pigs. Maybe of a different grade.”
Kennedy stopped short of saying anyone should resign, noting instead that Senate leaders have called for an ethics investigation into Franken. Kennedy said he expected that if Moore were elected Dec. 12, there would be an ethics investigation into the accusations against him as well. He said he did not have “any sympathy for people who act like pigs.”
“I’m not going to prejudge any of the facts,” he said. “I’m going to wait to see the facts. I want to see full investigations in terms of me having to do my job.”
On Moore specifically, he stressed that if the allegations were true, he believed Moore should quit the race. He noted that Moore had denied the accusations.
“The people of Alabama do get a say in this and they’re going to vote,” he said. “He will be seated under the law if he wins. At that point, I fully expect somebody to file an ethics charge and we’ll get the facts and then we’ll make a decision on the basis of the facts … I would say the same thing about Sen. Franken. We need to get the facts.”
