Al Franken resigned from the Senate last year after allegations that he inappropriately touched and forcibly kissed multiple women while working as a comedian. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images kavanaugh confirmation Trump: Franken folded ‘like a wet rag’ under sexual misconduct allegations 
 
 President Donald Trump mocked former Sen. Al Franken for folding "up like a wet rag" after allegations of sexual misconduct were leveled against him, ridiculing the former lawmaker as Senate Republicans work to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women. 
 
 "Boy, did he fold up like a wet rag. Man, man, he was gone so fast," Trump said at a rally Thursday night in Franken's home state of Minnesota. "It was like, 'oh, he did something,' 'oh I resign. I quit.'" 
 
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 After initially keeping mostly quiet on the assault allegations against Kavanaugh, Trump has grown increasingly combative over them, mocking Kavanaugh's first accuser at a rally earlier this week over lapses in her memory around the alleged assault. Trump has continued to support his nominee as Democrats and several of Kavanaugh's former schoolmates have decried the judge as a liar and overly partisan. 
 
 The Senate is expected to hold a key vote Friday morning on Kavanaugh's confirmation, even though multiple lawmakers, including three Republicans, have yet to say how they will vote on the nominee. 
 
 In his Thursday night speech, Trump mentioned Franken while criticizing his replacement, Democrat Tina Smith, who was appointed senator by Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton. Trump labeled Smith, who is seeking reelection next month, a "far left Democrat." 
 
 "I do this stuff for a living, and I'm not sure I ever heard of her," Trump said. "And I need her vote." 
 
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 Franken resigned last year after allegations that he inappropriately touched and forcibly kissed multiple women while working as a comedian. Franken was among the numerous powerful men who were accused of sexual misconduct following the bombshell New York Times report on former film mogul Harvey Weinstein, which was released a year ago on Friday. ||||| After several high-profile men have resigned due to claims of sexual misconduct, some Democratic lawmakers are suggesting that President Trump should follow suit. 
 
 In the wake of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, “Today” show host Matt Lauer and Democratic Sen. Al Franken losing their jobs over misconduct allegations, a couple of high-profile Democratic senators suggested that the president should do the same. 
 
 “President Trump has committed assault, according to these women, and those are very credible allegations of misconduct and criminal activity, and he should be fully investigated and he should resign,” Gillibrand told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. 
 
 The remarks came as three of Trump’s accusers spoke out again about his behavior. 
 
 “In an objective setting, without question, a person with this record would have entered the graveyard of political aspirations never to return. Yet, here we are with that man as President,” Rachel Crooks, one of Trump’s accusers, explained at a press conference Wednesday. 
 
 Here’s what the lawmakers have said. 
 
 Kirsten Gillibrand 
 
 Gillibrand told CNN’s Chrisiane Amanpour Monday that Trump should resign, and have congress investigate the allegations of he does not. “These allegations are credible; they are numerous. I’ve heard these women’s testimony, and many of them are heartbreaking,” she told Amanpour. 
 
 Ron Wyden 
 
 Wyden, a Democratic Senator from Oregon, echoed Gillibrand’s sentiments on Twitter. “These women are right. If [President Trump] won’t resign, Congress must investigate allegations by many, many women that he sexually assaulted and harassed them. No one is above the law,” he tweeted. 
 
 Cory Booker 
 
 Booker told Vice News Saturday that if Franken can be coerced into resignation, it’s only fair that Trump follow suit because the allegations are more damning. “I just watched Sen. Al Franken do the honorable thing and resign from his office. My question is, why isn’t Donald Trump doing the same thing — who has more serious allegations against him, with more women who have come forward. The fact pattern on him is far more damning than the fact pattern on Al Franken,” the New Jersey Senator told Vice. 
 
 Jeff Merkley 
 
 Speaking on MSNBC on Dec. 7 — the day Al Franken resigned — Merkley mentioned the possibility of Trump’s resignation when disavowing Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, who has been accused by multiple women is sexual misconduct when they were teenagers and he was in his thirties. “He should drop out of that race right now.” Merkley said of Moore. “And by the way, for that, matter, the President should resign because he certainly has a track record with more than 17 women of horrific conduct.” ||||| – A political star on the rise, Sen. Al Franken had emerged in recent months as a leading voice in opposition to President Donald Trump, a progressive powerhouse raising millions of dollars for Democrats across the country and frequently appearing on lists of potential 2020 presidential contenders. 
 
 Now, with one photograph, his political clout has come crashing down. 
 
 A Los Angeles radio personality’s story of being kissed and groped by Franken in 2006 — complete with a picture of him leering as his hands suggestively hovered over her chest as she slept — has added the Minnesota Democrat to a rapidly growing list of powerful, famous men accused of sexual misconduct. 
 
 Suddenly a senator whose statewide approval rating stood at 58 percent in the last Star Tribune Minnesota Poll is facing calls to resign — even from prominent Minnesota DFLers and deeply disappointed supporters. 
 
 As he faces an ethics investigation in the U.S. Senate, Franken’s future is up in the air in a seat that’s next on the ballot in 2020. 
 
 “I thought about the woman in the photo, and what I would feel like if that was me,” said Melissa Davenport, a Minneapolis woman who came to the State Capitol on Friday for a rally against sexual harassment. Davenport said she was a fan of Franken but now believes he should resign. 
 
 Asked Saturday whether Franken would resign, a spokesperson for the senator responded: “No.” 
 
 “He is spending time with his family in Washington, D.C., and will be through the Thanksgiving holiday,” the staffer said by text, “and he’s doing a lot of reflecting.” 
 
 The woman in the photo, broadcaster Leeann Tweeden, wrote a detailed account of her 2006 USO holiday tour with Franken, the former “Saturday Night Live” comedian and political satirist who at that time was still months away from launching his Minnesota Senate bid. Franken, she said, pressured her into performing a comedy skit with him, then wrote a kiss into the act, then forced a kiss on her backstage in what he called a “rehearsal.” 
 
 The senator, who is 66 and has been married to wife Franni Bryson since 1975, put out two public apologies and wrote a personal one to Tweeden, who said she accepted it. 
 
 But some of Franken’s political allies are finding it tough to forgive. 
 
 “It’s hard. He’s a friend, he’s an ally and he’s very effective. But we cannot have a double standard when it comes to having safe places that do not allow for sexual harassment,” said State Auditor Rebecca Otto, one of two DFL candidates for governor in 2018 to call for Franken to resign. The other was state Rep. Erin Murphy. 
 
 Amid the national uproar, Franken skipped Thursday’s votes in the Senate and canceled several public appearances. 
 
 In a rapid sign of Franken’s diminished influence, Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa announced just hours after Tweeden went public that he would hold a confirmation hearing for Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras, who Trump has nominated to the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Franken, who was trying to block that hearing, did not publicly object. 
 
 Demands for Franken’s resignation have not been universal. In Op-Ed columns and online postings, some prominent progressive women said Franken’s behavior toward Tweeden, while gross and not funny, should be viewed with the perspective that he was not yet a U.S. senator and was on the USO tour as a comedian. A group of women who worked for Franken in recent years said in a public letter that he always treated them with respect. 
 
 Franken has weathered other political storms stirred by his comedic past. 
 
 Minnesotans knew who they were electing to the Senate. All of the raunchy, off-color jokes Franken wrote during his long comedy career got a thorough re-airing during the 2008 campaign. 
 
 There was his satirical “Porn-O-Rama” Playboy essay that the entire Democratic delegation stepped up to criticize. There was the time he pitched the “Saturday Night Live” writers room on a skit about the rape of journalist Leslie Stahl — an incident Trump referenced again in a tweet Thursday night. 
 
 “And to think that just last week he was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women. Lesley Stahl tape?” the president tweeted, prompting a furious backlash from Democrats who quickly pointed out that a dozen women have accused the president himself of sexual harassment. 
 
 Were Franken to resign in the next few months, DFL Gov. Mark Dayton would appoint a temporary replacement, and the seat would be up for special election in November 2018. The winner of that race would again face voters in November 2020. 
 
 Franken’s allies, and Franken himself, have pitched an alternative to resignation that would confront his behavior without costing him his career — the Senate Ethics Committee. 
 
 Franken said he would “gladly cooperate” with a Senate ethics investigation into his behavior. But it’s unclear whether the bipartisan six-member committee, which fields dozens of questions each year about senators’ financial dealings and use of the power and privilege of their office, would look into behavior that predates a senator’s election. 
 
 The small, secretive Senate Ethics Committee has tackled sexual harassment cases in the past. There was the notorious case of Sen. Bob Packwood, an Oregon Republican charged with harassing or sexually assaulting at least 19 women during his Senate tenure. Packwood resigned his seat in 1995 after a three-year ethics investigation, rather than face an expulsion vote. 
 
 Heading into the weekend, the committee was focused on a different target: Sen. Robert Menendez. The New Jersey Democrat’s bribery trial ended Thursday with a deadlocked jury. The committee launched an inquiry into his alleged misconduct the same day. 
 
 The Senate has not expelled one of its members in more than 150 years and it has not censured a senator since 1990, when Minnesota Republican Sen. Dave Durenberger was denounced for bringing “dishonor and disrepute” to the Senate over improper financial dealings involving public funds. Durenberger served out his term but did not run for re-election in 1994. ||||| – Sen. Al Franken plans to stay in the U.S. Senate and try to win back Minnesotans’ trust. 
 
 The Minnesota Democrat, who has been accused by four women — two of them anonymously — of inappropriate contact, issued a Thanksgiving afternoon apology and pledge. He wrote that he “feels terribly that I’ve made some women feel badly.” He called himself “a warm person” who likes to hug people when they’re being photographed with him, but clearly, his embrace “crossed a line for some women.” 
 
 Although his statement did not directly address the question of whether he might resign, he vowed to move ahead with an effort to regain the trust of his constituents. A spokesman for Franken said Thursday that the senator has no plans to resign. 
 
 The accusations, which have left Franken facing a Senate ethics investigation, have touched off a fierce debate among his progressive supporters over what level of sexual misconduct should force a politician with a record of support for women’s rights to resign from office. 
 
 “Because he happens to be a good guy on some other issues, people are confused,” said Erin Vilardi, head of VoteRunLead, a national group that aims to elect more women to public office. It held a national convention in Minneapolis last weekend. 
 
 Vilardi spoke after the first two accusations against Franken and before Wednesday’s Huffington Post report of the third and fourth allegations. The website cited two unidentified women who said he grabbed their buttocks in separate incidents. Each spoke on condition of anonymity about events they said occurred during Franken’s first Senate run. 
 
 The first said Franken groped her when he posed for a photo with her after a June 2007 event hosted by the Minnesota Women’s Political Caucus in Minneapolis. The second told HuffPost that Franken cupped her butt with his hand at a 2008 Democratic fundraiser in Minneapolis, then suggested the two visit the bathroom together. 
 
 The accusations against Franken have emerged in a charged atmosphere of accusations and denials in a broad swath of American life — politics, the arts, media and business. In Minnesota, accusations by several women against state Sen. Dan Schoen, a DFLer, and state Rep. Tony Cornish, a Republican, led both to say they’ll resign. 
 
 The first accusation against Franken came last week, when Los Angeles radio broadcaster Leeann Tweeden tweeted that he forcibly kissed and groped her during a 2006 USO tour. He apologized to her but added that he remembered their encounter differently. 
 
 On that same tour, the former “Saturday Night Live” cast member also mugged for a photo with his hands hovering over Tweeden’s breasts as she slept. 
 
 On Monday, a second woman accused Franken of unwanted sexual touching. Lindsay Menz, 33, contacted CNN to say that Franken grabbed her buttocks while they posed together for a photo at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010. Menz now lives in Texas. 
 
 Franken told CNN that he did not remember posing for the photo with Menz. 
 
 “I take thousands of photos at the State Fair surrounded by hundreds of people, and I certainly don’t remember taking this picture. I feel badly that Ms. Menz came away from our interaction feeling disrespected,” Franken said in a statement to CNN. 
 
 Speaking after the Tweeden and Menz accusations, Vilardi described participants at the VoteRunLead convention as torn over what to think about Franken. Just because women know a man in one light, she said, that “doesn’t make it impossible that they’ve treated other women like crap.” 
 
 Many Democrats and progressives have argued that other politicians, including President Donald Trump and Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore, have been accused of worse misconduct. More than 50 women who worked with Franken have spoken out in support of him, saying he treated them with respect at workplaces ranging from the Senate to the “SNL” soundstage. 
 
 But Minnesota Republicans have jumped on the allegations. Jennifer DeJournett, a GOP activist, started a petition demanding his resignation after the first allegation. Signatures spiked further after the other accusations. 
 
 If Franken were to step down, Gov. Mark Dayton would appoint a temporary replacement, and a special election would be held next November for his seat. 
 
 ‘I crossed a line ...’ 
 
 In Thursday evening’s statement, the senator wrote: 
 
 “I’ve met tens of thousands of people and taken thousands of photographs, often in crowded and chaotic situations. I’m a warm person; I hug people. I’ve learned from recent stories that in some of those encounters, I crossed a line for some women — and I know that any number is too many. 
 
 “Some women have found my greetings or embraces for a hug or photo inappropriate, and I respect their feelings about that. I’ve thought a lot in recent days about how that could happen, and recognize that I need to be much more careful and sensitive in these situations. I feel terribly that I’ve made some women feel badly and for that I am so sorry, and I want to make sure that never happens again. 
 
 “And let me say again to Minnesotans that I’m sorry for putting them through this and I’m committed to regaining their trust.” 
 
 A spokesman said Franken will speak with the media on Sunday. 
 
 Staff writer Maya Rao contributed to this report.
– It's been almost a year since Al Franken left the Senate after sexual misconduct allegations were lobbed against him by several women, and it's been nearly that long since President Trump last tweeted about the former Minnesota senator. On Thursday night, however, Trump paid a visit to Franken's home state for a rally, and he had some thoughts on the Democrat stepping down from his post. "Boy, did he fold up like a wet rag," Trump said, describing Franken first as "wacky," per Politico. "Man, man, he was gone so fast. It was like, 'Oh, he did something,' 'Oh, I resign. I quit.'" Trump's comments came as his nominee for the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, defiantly stands firm in the wake of sexual assault allegations against him; Kavanaugh even penned an op-ed Thursday in the Wall Street Journal, defending his reputation. The New York Times notes that Trump's remarks in Minnesota, a state he barely lost in 2016, sync with his "long-stated personal mantra of never giving in to any accusation, and considering those who do to be weak." Trump also had words about Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, who was slotted into Franken's spot after he resigned. "I do this stuff for a living, and I'm not sure I ever heard of her," Trump said. "And I need her vote." He also returned to Franken, adding: "Nobody knows who the hell she is. She took a wacky guy's place." Trump also went after Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, specifically on immigration and health care, but he didn't mention sexual misconduct allegations against the DNC deputy chair. The Times observes Trump did play up that Ellison had said before the 2016 election that he thought Trump had a chance to win.