Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) is still dealing with the fallout from his sexual harassment fiasco. In 2006, the then-liberal radio host and comedian forcibly kissed and then groped colleague Leeann Tweeden (the latter while she slept), which set off a firestorm in the news media. Now, a second woman, Lindsay Menz, has come forward to accuse the Minnesota Democrat of inappropriately touching her back in 2010; he grabbed her rear end. MSNBC did what they do best; try to diffuse the situation to keep those progressive blood pressures at healthy levels. Host Stephanie Ruhle prefaced her remarks on this development to say that this shouldn’t excuse Franken, but is it a big deal?
Via NTK Network:
“This story could be true,” Ruhle said. “Al Franken said he doesn’t remember it.”
Prefacing her next comments by saying that she wasn’t excusing Franken’s behavior, the MSNBC anchor downplayed the allegations.
“How slippery a slope is it – I mean, again, I’m just speaking as somebody who spent 15 years of her life working on Wall Street – but if we’re going to start to go after everyone in every power industry for something like a butt slap, I’m worried that there’s going to be no one left running anything,” Ruhle said.
Uh, as Guy noted in his post from CNN’s report, it wasn’t a butt slap:
Franken "pulled me in really close, like awkward close, and as my husband took the picture, he put his hand full-fledged on my rear," Menz said. "It was wrapped tightly around my butt cheek." "It wasn't around my waist. It wasn't around my hip or side. It was definitely on my butt," she said, recalling that the brazen act lasted three or four seconds. "I was like, oh my God, what's happening"...Lindsay Menz told CNN.
Franken said he’s not resigning over these allegations. Also, do you really think if a Republican was accused, MSNBC would even think whether to question the seriousness of this charge? Probably not.
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