Al Franken found the public apologies from fellow senators 'very gratifying'

George Back
·Producer, Yahoo Entertainment
Updated ·1 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Al Franken made a rare television appearance on Conan almost two years after stepping down from the U.S. Senate. Franken was accused of sexual misconduct by several women in the fall of 2017.

Franken claimed he was pressured to resign from office without due process. Since the resignation, eight of his fellow Democratic senators have apparently issued public apologies.

“It was very gratifying,” said Franken, “To get a U.S. senator to publicly admit, you know, he or she made a mistake, that's hard. And again, eight, you know, that's unusual.”

Franken also elaborated on why the eight senators apologized to him, telling Conan, “So they just basically all said that I deserved due process. And I believe I did, too.”

Franken said he did not want to resign, but without the support of his fellow Democratic senators, he could not be an effective leader. “My committee work would be at risk,” said Franken, “My staff would be isolated. And I just couldn't serve the people of Minnesota.”

While Franken maintained his innocence in the matter, he did admit that the accusations have had a significant impact on how he has handled himself since then. “I thought I must be doing something wrong,” said Franken, “Ever since I've been a lot more mindful in my interactions with pretty much everyone.”

Conan airs weeknights at 11 on TBS.

Watch as Sean Spicer gets political on Dancing With the Stars:

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Kylie Mar, on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.