Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday night, where she was asked if her Democratic colleague Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) should resign due to recent sexual assault allegations.
Rather than give a yes or no answer, Sen. Warren said she was "enormously disappointed" by the news and that the allegations are "serious and women have the right to be heard and listened to on this."
Sen. Warren went on to say that Sen. Franken will go before a bipartisan ethics committee and answer for the behavior he has admitted to, even though no admission was needed as Sen. Franken was photographed groping the breasts of Leeann Tweeden as she slept.
"Al is going to be subjected to a hearing in the United States Senate, an investigation. We have had for a long time now in the Senate, long before I got there, a bipartisan ethics committee that meets on a regular basis, and he's going to go in and answer," she said.
According to Sen. Warren, all of these allegations, in Hollywood and amongst politicians, have created the question of whether "this is a moment that is a big flash, and then nothing really changes, nobody feels like they have to answer, or is this a moment when there's real change."
To know whether or not real change has occurred, Warren says we will not only see famous individuals being held accountable but we will see accountability for everyday people in the workplace. Whether the person guilty of sexual assault and sexual harassment is a shift manager, the "jerk over in accounting," or the "boss telling dirty jokes."
Though Sen. Warren wavered on calling for Sen. Franken's resignation, two progressive organizations, CREDO Action and Indivisible, aren't hesitating.
STATEMENT: Sexual harassment & assault have no place in the progressive movement or in our society. @SenFranken had the chance to take full responsibility & he failed. Sen. Franken should resign from the Senate. @GovMarkDayton should appoint a progressive woman to replace him. pic.twitter.com/bgSvmwi9Td
— CREDO Mobile (@CREDOMobile) November 20, 2017
We believe Lindsay Menz. We believe Leeann Tweeden. Senator @alfranken should be held accountable and he should resign.
— Indivisible Guide (@IndivisibleTeam) November 20, 2017
Watch the short interview with Sen. Warren and Stephen Colbert below.
