US Senator quits over sexual abuse charges
A high-ranking United States politician has resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct against him, according to The Guardian, reports ANI.
Democratic Senator Al Franken resigned from the office on Thursday after number of women, in the last few weeks, came forward and accused the former of groping or trying to forcibly kiss them.
Though asserting that “all women deserve to be heard and their experiences taken seriously”, the Guardian quoted the 66-year-old senator as saying, “Some of the allegations against me are simply not true. Others I remember differently.”
Speaking on the Senate floor, Franken, who said he would quit in the coming weeks, said: “All women deserve to be heard and their experiences taken seriously.”
But he said that his response to the sexual misconduct allegations “gave some people the false impression that I was admitting doing things that I hadn’t done. Some of the allegations
Democratic Senator Al Franken resigned from the office on Thursday after number of women, in the last few weeks, came forward and accused the former of groping or trying to forcibly kiss them
against me are simply not true. Others I remember differently.”
The former Saturday Night Live comic and two-term senator has apologised to several women who have accused him of groping and sexual harassment, but he faced mounting pressure to step aside after a new allegation surfaced on Wednesday.
In an emotional speech from the Senate floor, Franken disputed some of the accusations and suggested he is being held to a different standard than President Trump.
“I, of all people, am aware that there is some irony in the fact that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party,” said Franken, referring to Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore. Moore has been accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with teenage girls when he was in his 30s; Moore has denied any wrongdoing.