Calling it “the worst day of his political life,” Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken said Thursday he will resign from the U.S. Senate following a wave of sexual misconduct allegations against him that ranged from groping to forcibly trying to kiss women. Franken, who said that some of the complaints against him were “simply not true” and that he remembers others “differently,” also took a parting shot at President Trump.
“There is some irony in the fact that I am leaving office while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office,” he said during his 11-minute speech from the Senate floor. About 18 Democratic senators, staff and family members were on hand for the announcement. Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan was the only Republican senator present. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar were also in attendance. They were among the lengthy list of Democrats pressuring Franken to resign. “As he and I discussed yesterday, this is the right decision,” Klobuchar said in a statement.
