Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) said on Sunday that he was unable to unequivocally deny that he has ever placed a hand on a woman’s butt.
“I can’t say that that hasn’t happened. I take thousands and thousands of pictures, sometimes in crowded chaotic situations, I can’t say that I haven’t done that. I am very sorry if these women experienced that,” Franken told Minnesota TV station WCCO when asked if he had ever placed a hand on a woman’s butt.
Franken’s answer came after a lengthy back-and-forth with WCCO’s Esme Murphy. When first asked about the allegations, Franken apologized for his behavior.
“I’m a warm person and I hug people, and in some of these encounters, the pictures or meetings, some women — and any is too many — have felt that I have crossed a line, and I am terribly sorry about that,” he said.
Murphy noted that women accused him of grabbing or cupping their butts and asked, “When you grab somebody’s butt, don’t you know it?”
“I understand that. And I am going to have to do everything I can going forward to be enormously sensitive. I apologize to these women,” Franken replied, adding that he wants to “better understand the woman’s experience.”
Murphy followed up, “Are they mistaken that their butt was grabbed? Is that what you are saying?”
“I am not saying that,” the senator responded. “As I said, I take thousands of photos, so I don’t remember these particular photos.”
Franken later said that he regrets that he made women “feel disrespected.”
Murphy then noted his use of the word “disrespected” and told Franken that he was accused of molesting a woman.
“I understand that, and again, I say that I respect her experience,” Franken replied.
Watch the full interview via WCCO:
There comes a point when you just have to let things play out. You’ve asked for an investigation, let it play out and accept what comes. In the meantime, please shut up.
No matter how big the hair shirt is Franken has put on or how long he’s worn it, it’s never going to big enough or painful enough for people pursuing him for just the right explanation.
Anyone ASKING that Franken categorically deny he’s never ‘place a hand on a woman’s butt’ is ridiculous. First off, how in the HELL do you counter accusations like that and secondly, this is all BS and it’s time to shut up.
Here is my interpretation of Franken’s response (or at least the one I want to read into it): “I want to say that I never did it because I certainly never intended to do it. But I can not know for sure how others felt during these photo opportunities, I believe it is possible that some women felt uncomfortable, felt groped even if I never intended this. Therefore, I am not going to flatly deny it.”
I know that I am putting the best possible spin on his response and his actions because I want him to be a decent person in as many aspects as possible…
There’s a pretty big difference between a hand touching someone’s butt as they crowded close for a photo, and actually “grabbing” their butt.
The former could happen unintentionally / carelessly, the latter implies prurient intent.
Franken was asked if he “grabbed,” answered that he couldn’t rule out that he had touched.
I wish he had said something like “I have never intentionally ‘grabbed’ a woman’s butt during a photo op, but I can’t rule out that I unintentionally touched one and realize that I need to be more careful in the future.”
The headline seems misleading, but Franken’s response to the question wasn’t great either.