Al Franken said he wishes he would not have bowed to pressure to resign from the Senate amid accusations of sexual misconduct.
“Oh, yeah. Absolutely,” Franken told the New Yorker about whether he regretted his decision to step down in early 2018.
His Senate colleagues also expressed their regrets for demanding his resignation after he was accused of forcibly kissing and inappropriately touching women. At least eight women accused him of sexual misconduct.
Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy said it was “one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made” in his 45 years in Congress.
Former North Dakota Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp said, “If there’s one decision I’ve made that I would take back, it’s the decision to call for his resignation. It was made in the heat of the moment, without concern for exactly what this was.”
Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth lamented that Franken did not receive “due process” and called it “not good for our democracy.”
“There’s no excuse for sexual assault,” Maine independent Sen. Angus King said. “But Al deserved more of a process. I don’t denigrate the allegations, but this was the political equivalent of capital punishment.”
Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley called the resignation pile-on “a rush to judgment.” “In my heart, I’ve not felt right about it,” he said.
New Mexico Democratic Sen. Tom Udall said his regret sunk in after Franken stepped down. “I’ve heard from people around my state, and around the country, saying that they think he got railroaded. It doesn’t seem fair. I’m a lawyer. I really believe in due process,” he said.
“I realized almost right away I’d made a mistake. I felt terrible. I should have stood up for due process to render what it’s supposed to — the truth,” former Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson said.
Former Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid also weighed in, though he was retired at the time the Franken controversy unfolded. “It’s terrible what happened to him. It was unfair. It took the legs out from under him. He was a very fine senator,” he said.
