Al Franken forciblely kissed Leann Tweeden and was photographed feeling her up while she was asleep. Fuck Al Franken and fuck anyone who would defend that behavior.
And the kissing thing was definitely unacceptable, but hardly worth the amount of scandal it received.
She said Franken, a former “Saturday Night Live” cast member and liberal activist who was elected to the Senate in 2008 and won a second term in 2014, insisted on rehearsing the scene backstage.
“He said to me, ‘We need to rehearse the kiss.’ I laughed and ignored him. Then he said it again. I said something like, ‘Relax Al, this isn’t SNL. … We don’t need to rehearse the kiss’,” she wrote in a lengthy and detailed post on KABC’s website.
“He continued to insist, and I was beginning to get uncomfortable.”
Tweeden said she reluctantly agreed to rehearse the line leading up to the kiss and that’s when Franken “came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth.”
“I immediately pushed him away with both of my hands against his chest and told him if he ever did that to me again I wouldn’t be so nice about it the next time,” she said. “I felt disgusted and violated.”
Franken, through a spokesperson, responded: “I certainly don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann.”
Tweeden said she reluctantly agreed to rehearse the line leading up to the kiss and that’s when Franken “came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth.”
That’s sexual assault, and it’s unacceptable regardless of which political party the perpetrator represents. A normal person could get arrested for this.
The fact that Trump of all people was tweeting out against Franken is peak hypocrisy.
I agree, but aren’t the democrats supposed to be better than him?
He wasn’t groping her, it was a perspective trick. You can even see the shadows from the flash.
This all happened long BEFORE he was a Senator, during a tour of the troops, where she was the customary Playboy model who would play her part in various risque sketches to entertain the troops. She knew about the picture and thought is was funny at the time.
Later, she became a regular feature on Hannity’s show, and one day they brought up this picture. It was the peak of the Me Too witch hunt, and feminists were going after anything they could. The Republicans decided to weaponize this photo, and other Trumpets jumped on it, and made totally unsubstantiated claims.
At the same time Schumer and his state Senate mate Kirsten Gillibrand were plotting her run for president, and were afraid Al would run, too. Al is super smart, extremely funny, very fast on his feet, and is a masterful campaigner. He would clean up in a Democratic primary.
So Schumer used that nasty Republican smear job to order him to resign. Al wanted a hearing by the ethics committee, but Schumer refused, and demanded his resignation.
Of course, Al was an unapologetic Progressive who was a strong supporter of Medicare 4 All, so Schumer wanted him out for that, too. Can’t have a guy like that in the White House.
Imagine if we had Al Franken humiliating HitlerPig on a daily basis.
Tweeden said she reluctantly agreed to rehearse the line leading up to the kiss and that’s when Franken “came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth.”
should have landed him in jail.
It was the peak of the Me Too witch hunt, and feminists were going after anything they could.
Most of the men caught up in the me too movement deserved it. Because of shit like I quoted above.
Imagine if we had Al Franken humiliating HitlerPig on a daily basis.
Sounds like the way he treated women was about on par with trump. He sexually assaulted that woman.
And this woman
“My husband steps away from us to take the photo. I stand next to Sen. Franken and he pulls me into him and then he moves his hand to my butt,”
And this woman
“When he put his arm around me, he groped my right breast. He kept his hand all the way over on my breast,”
I’ve stayed away from the anonymous accusers, but I’ll throw an honorable mention to the anonymous elected official who said
He took it [her hand] and leaned toward me with his mouth open. I turned my head away from him and he landed a wet, open-mouthed kiss awkwardly on my cheek,"
Based on this behavior, I don’t care what his policies are or which party he represents. The man is a predator and he should be in jail or counseling. He definitely doesn’t belong in our government
This is the word of a Conservative Sean Hannity operative, who later RETRACTED her statement when it led to his resignation.
It seemed like she actually liked Franken, but in her job as a Hannity operative, she decided to use her connection to him to stir up trouble, and it went further than she expected.
So EVERYTHING she said has to be taken with an enormous grain of salt. She never had to testify under oath, and there wasn’t a single other witness to any of her claims, and she later apologized for how far it went, and expressed regret that she had hurt him so badly.
It was nothing but a Republican smear job, and Schumer jumped on it for his own dirty purposes. Whether you believe the story or not, Schumer had an obligation to resist it and protect his Senator, and he decided to side with the enemy.
As for the rest of his “accusers,” they were all people who got their photos taken at his famous cattle-call photo sessions at the Minnesota State Fair, where he took thousands of photos. He had about 10 seconds with each person, they come up, he grabs them, pulls them in close, smiles, and they snap the photo. In thousands of lightning fast photos, could his hand have landed somewhere odd? Almost certainly. That isn’t assault, it’s just an accident. It’s like accusing someone of sexual assault because someone accidentally briefly touched your body on a crowded bus.
Every person who accused him of inappropriate touching was a rabid Trumper, happy to jump on the smear campaign to destroy Franken. None of them had EVER made the claim before, even in private. One person even claimed he didn’t grab her anywhere inappropriate, she just “knew” it was sexual. Remember, all these accusers waited in a long line to smile and get their picture taken with Al, and never said a word about it until they broke for Trump, and then this smear campaign started. Suddenly, they were traumatized by an assault years before that they had never mentioned to anyone before. And again, none of them ever had to testify to their story under oath. They are all people who follow a guy who is a proven traitor, rapist, racist, who weaponizes lying on a daily basis. Why wouldn’t his rabid fans feel like they can do it too, “for the cause?”
And by the way, NONE of the photographs showed Franken doing anything inappropriate, but because there was no hearings, that was never talked about. One woman claimed he cupped her whole breast for the photo, so where’s the photo? Why didn’t she say anything at the time? Why would Franken sexually assault anyone, knowing it was going to be PHOTOGRAPHED? None of it stand up to the slightest Critical Thinking Skills
Then there were the anonymous accusers who don’t count at all. If you won’t give your name, then you, and your unsubstantiated, unwitnessed, anonymous story, don’t exist. Period.
Maybe he did it, but we’ll never know, because Schumer REFUSED to allow Al to have a hearing in front of the Ethics committee where he could have defended himself, and confronted his accusers. We are complaining because MAGA NAZIs are denying Due Process to immigrants, but here’s a case when the leading Senate Democrat denied Due Process to one of his own.
Schumer betrayed Al Franken, and he betrayed us, by flushing a solid, honest man who had an excellent chance of being president, and establishing a Progressive agenda. It’s vitally important to recognize this incident for what it really was - the Democratic Leadership protecting their own neo-Liberal, Republican-Lite agenda that has led to the rise and dominance of the the MAGA Nazis. Chuck Schumer was the architect of that assault on Al Franken’s reputation, helping the MAGA Nazis rise to power, and he is STILL in that position.
Schumer is standing in the way of the rebellion, and he needs to resign, or be primaried out of office.
Al Franken forciblely kissed Leann Tweeden and was photographed feeling her up while she was asleep. Fuck Al Franken and fuck anyone who would defend that behavior.
Are you referring to this photo?
Yes, he is definitely “groping” her here… Jfc.
And the kissing thing was definitely unacceptable, but hardly worth the amount of scandal it received.
Edit: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/sen-al-franken-accused-forcibly-kissing-groping-woman-n821381
I will add that the GOP also amplified the issue 100x. The fact that Trump of all people was tweeting out against Franken is peak hypocrisy.
Yes, he’s groping an unconscious woman.
That’s sexual assault, and it’s unacceptable regardless of which political party the perpetrator represents. A normal person could get arrested for this.
I agree, but aren’t the democrats supposed to be better than him?
He wasn’t groping her, it was a perspective trick. You can even see the shadows from the flash.
This all happened long BEFORE he was a Senator, during a tour of the troops, where she was the customary Playboy model who would play her part in various risque sketches to entertain the troops. She knew about the picture and thought is was funny at the time.
Later, she became a regular feature on Hannity’s show, and one day they brought up this picture. It was the peak of the Me Too witch hunt, and feminists were going after anything they could. The Republicans decided to weaponize this photo, and other Trumpets jumped on it, and made totally unsubstantiated claims.
At the same time Schumer and his state Senate mate Kirsten Gillibrand were plotting her run for president, and were afraid Al would run, too. Al is super smart, extremely funny, very fast on his feet, and is a masterful campaigner. He would clean up in a Democratic primary.
So Schumer used that nasty Republican smear job to order him to resign. Al wanted a hearing by the ethics committee, but Schumer refused, and demanded his resignation.
Of course, Al was an unapologetic Progressive who was a strong supporter of Medicare 4 All, so Schumer wanted him out for that, too. Can’t have a guy like that in the White House.
Imagine if we had Al Franken humiliating HitlerPig on a daily basis.
The Case of Al Franken
Whether you believe he’s groping her or not, this
should have landed him in jail.
Most of the men caught up in the me too movement deserved it. Because of shit like I quoted above.
Sounds like the way he treated women was about on par with trump. He sexually assaulted that woman.
And this woman
And this woman
I’ve stayed away from the anonymous accusers, but I’ll throw an honorable mention to the anonymous elected official who said
Based on this behavior, I don’t care what his policies are or which party he represents. The man is a predator and he should be in jail or counseling. He definitely doesn’t belong in our government
This is the word of a Conservative Sean Hannity operative, who later RETRACTED her statement when it led to his resignation.
It seemed like she actually liked Franken, but in her job as a Hannity operative, she decided to use her connection to him to stir up trouble, and it went further than she expected.
So EVERYTHING she said has to be taken with an enormous grain of salt. She never had to testify under oath, and there wasn’t a single other witness to any of her claims, and she later apologized for how far it went, and expressed regret that she had hurt him so badly.
It was nothing but a Republican smear job, and Schumer jumped on it for his own dirty purposes. Whether you believe the story or not, Schumer had an obligation to resist it and protect his Senator, and he decided to side with the enemy.
As for the rest of his “accusers,” they were all people who got their photos taken at his famous cattle-call photo sessions at the Minnesota State Fair, where he took thousands of photos. He had about 10 seconds with each person, they come up, he grabs them, pulls them in close, smiles, and they snap the photo. In thousands of lightning fast photos, could his hand have landed somewhere odd? Almost certainly. That isn’t assault, it’s just an accident. It’s like accusing someone of sexual assault because someone accidentally briefly touched your body on a crowded bus.
Every person who accused him of inappropriate touching was a rabid Trumper, happy to jump on the smear campaign to destroy Franken. None of them had EVER made the claim before, even in private. One person even claimed he didn’t grab her anywhere inappropriate, she just “knew” it was sexual. Remember, all these accusers waited in a long line to smile and get their picture taken with Al, and never said a word about it until they broke for Trump, and then this smear campaign started. Suddenly, they were traumatized by an assault years before that they had never mentioned to anyone before. And again, none of them ever had to testify to their story under oath. They are all people who follow a guy who is a proven traitor, rapist, racist, who weaponizes lying on a daily basis. Why wouldn’t his rabid fans feel like they can do it too, “for the cause?”
And by the way, NONE of the photographs showed Franken doing anything inappropriate, but because there was no hearings, that was never talked about. One woman claimed he cupped her whole breast for the photo, so where’s the photo? Why didn’t she say anything at the time? Why would Franken sexually assault anyone, knowing it was going to be PHOTOGRAPHED? None of it stand up to the slightest Critical Thinking Skills
Then there were the anonymous accusers who don’t count at all. If you won’t give your name, then you, and your unsubstantiated, unwitnessed, anonymous story, don’t exist. Period.
Maybe he did it, but we’ll never know, because Schumer REFUSED to allow Al to have a hearing in front of the Ethics committee where he could have defended himself, and confronted his accusers. We are complaining because MAGA NAZIs are denying Due Process to immigrants, but here’s a case when the leading Senate Democrat denied Due Process to one of his own.
Schumer betrayed Al Franken, and he betrayed us, by flushing a solid, honest man who had an excellent chance of being president, and establishing a Progressive agenda. It’s vitally important to recognize this incident for what it really was - the Democratic Leadership protecting their own neo-Liberal, Republican-Lite agenda that has led to the rise and dominance of the the MAGA Nazis. Chuck Schumer was the architect of that assault on Al Franken’s reputation, helping the MAGA Nazis rise to power, and he is STILL in that position.
Schumer is standing in the way of the rebellion, and he needs to resign, or be primaried out of office.