Scott Mulhauser, former chief of staff to Ambassador Max Baucus, said on CNN Thursday that Sen. Al Franken is better than Roy Moore because Franken apologized for his actions.
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Franken is accused of forcibly kissing Leeann Tweeden and groping her while she was asleep, but Mulhauser seemed to downplay the allegations. Mulhauser, who also served as deputy chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden in 2012, had a defense that centered on the fact that Franken apologized and Roy Moore has not.
“It’s awful to read, it’s awful to see, it’s awful to hear. The difference is Al Franken did the right thing,” Mulhauser claimed. “He apologized, and he’s attempting to move forward.”
“What we’re seeing from Roy Moore is … defiance,” he said.
Franken did seem to apologize, but he also said he remembered the skit rehearsal differently. His defense for the groping photo is that it was his attempt to be “funny” and he now knows it “wasn’t.”
“I certainly don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann,” Sen. Franken said in a statement. “As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn’t. I shouldn’t have done it.”