Before Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) announced his resignation this week, a total of eight women stepped forward and accused him of forcible kissing or touching.
At least 30 Senate Democrats called on the Senator to resign after the seventh woman came forward — including at least six of Franken’s female colleagues.
That it took half a dozen accusations for Senate Democrats to call on Franken to step down is beyond embarrassing.
Equally as troubling, though, is that the majority of Senate Republicans have remained silent amid a slew of sexual misconduct allegations against GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore. Sexual misconduct is not a partisan issue. It’s time for members of Congress to quit playing politics and start standing up for what’s right.
Franken’s demise began last month after radio personality Leeann Tweeden dropped the bombshell photograph in which Franken appears to be visibly groping her chest while she sleeps. The senator was quick to issue an apology, saying the stunt was “intended to be funny but wasn’t.”
He’s right. Groping a woman’s breast is far from a punchline. More importantly, the floodgates were opened, and Franken’s apology to Tweeden wouldn’t be the last time his inappropriate behavior made headlines.
Less than two weeks later, another woman came forward alleging that Franken forcibly grabbed her rear during a photo taken in 2010 at the Minnesota State Fair. Shortly thereafter, two more women anonymously stepped forward with stories of forcible touching. Next came the accusation from army veteran Stephanie Kemplin who said the Senator groped her breast during a 2003 USO tour. And Franken’s sixth accusation came from an anonymous elected official in New England.
Franken’s most recent accusers – an anonymous woman and a former communications director for then Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) – sealed the deal for the senator from Minnesota.
Al Franken’s conduct and continued representation in the United States Senate after the first accuser came forward was mortifying. Both Franken and his democratic colleagues should be ashamed — the former for his behavior and the latter for their silence.
But let’s not forget about the elephant in the room: The GOP is backing an alleged serial pedophile to hold an Alabama Senate seat.
Since Roy Moore’s first accuser broke her silence in early November, an additional seven women have come forward with corroborating stories of Moore engaging in sexual misconduct with them during their teenage years.
The first woman, Leigh Corfman, alleges that then 32-year old Moore made unwanted sexual advances to her when she was just 14 years old.
The second woman, Wendy Miller, claims that Moore asked her out when she was just 16. Then came Debbie Wesson Gibson, who said that Moore kissed her when she was 17, after the two met when Moore spoke at her high school civics class.
The next two accusers — Gloria Thacker Deason and Gena Richardson — detailed stories in which a thirtysomething Moore tried to court them when they were 18. Beverly Young Nelson came forward saying Moore tried to sexually assault her when she was 16 years old. Becky Gray claims that Moore would hang out at the mall where she worked and repeatedly ask her out when she was 22. And finally, Tina Johnson came forward claiming that Moore groped her behind in 1991.
There’s a pattern here.
Still, Moore holds the support of President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee. While a good chunk of Republican senators have not come out in firm support of Moore, most have chosen to remain silent. When it comes to alleged pedophilia, there’s not much of a moral difference between silence and support.
Republicans and Democrats need to be held to the same standard when it comes to sexual misconduct: zero tolerance.
It’s an absolute disgrace that it took Senate Democrats this long to condemn Franken.
If Republicans want to be taken seriously they’ll do all they can to keep Roy Moore out of the Senate.
Jacy Gomez, a former congressional staffer for Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), is an associate at Keybridge Communications, a D.C-based public relations firm. The opinions expressed above are entirely her own.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.