Their statements came as a number of other lawmakers, including Sen. Dick Durbin, the second most powerful Democrat in the Senate, said they had second thoughts about their role in pushing out Franken, a former senator from Minnesota.
While few Democrats are eager to revisit the politically painful situation surrounding Franken’s departure, particularly with a presidential primary underway, he is back in the news after telling The New Yorker, in a story published Monday that contained some of his first public comments since his resignation, that he “absolutely” regretted his decision to step down rather than fight the accusations.
And that means Gillibrand, his onetime friend and the first Democratic colleague to call for his resignation, is back in the news, too. “There is no prize for someone who tries to hold accountable a powerful man who is good at his day job,” she said at a town-hall event Monday night, responding to Franken’s remarks. “But we should have the courage to do it anyway.”
Gillibrand, who has predicated her presidential campaign on being an unyielding advocate for women, expressed no regrets, and neither did some of the women who joined her in calling on Franken to step down over allegations of unwanted touching and kissing.
“With the first accuser, we didn’t call for his resignation from the get-go. It was a difficult decision,” Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said Tuesday. “But when the eighth person comes forward, there’s a pattern. Women have been putting up with this BS from time immemorial. And we’re sick of it.”
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the highest-ranking Democratic woman in Senate leadership, said she stood by her decision to call for Franken’s resignation. So did four presidential candidates: Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kamala Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, another presidential candidate, did not respond to a request for comment.
“Al Franken’s decision to step down was the right decision — for the good of the Senate and the good of the country,” Schumer said. “I regret losing him as a colleague, but given the circumstances, it was inevitable.”
Franken’s supporters have long blamed Gillibrand for his abrupt political demise, while Gillibrand’s backers have expressed bewilderment that, somehow, a woman has been held responsible for a man’s alleged transgressions.
On the presidential campaign trail, it is Gillibrand who faces the bulk of criticism over the episode from activists, voters and donors, including billionaire financier George Soros. She is one of six 2020 candidates who called for Franken’s resignation from their perches in the Senate.
“I’m not going to get into a debate about any of this with Senator Gillibrand. All I’m going to say is it seems to me that the idea of proportionality was never considered,” said Lou Frillman, a Democratic fundraiser in Minnesota who had supported Franken.
But Frillman said the decision to resign lay with Franken: “You’ve got to blame yourself. He’s the one who pulled the plug.”
The Franken matter has become a persistent distraction for Gillibrand’s struggling campaign. The latest flare-up occurred as Gillibrand prepared to take a victory lap on an issue that has been a centerpiece of her political career: securing permanent funding for the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, established to aid first responders, their families and those who became ill following the terrorist attacks.
Gillibrand has consistently said that while the decision to resign was Franken’s to make, she had to choose whether to “remain silent.”
Jess Morales Rocketto, a Democratic activist, said Gillibrand should be celebrated for standing up for her principles.
“Kirsten Gillibrand is asked to explain why she stood with sexual harassment and assault survivors while there is very little to no interrogation for Al Franken why he perpetuated those crimes,” she said. “It should actually be a shining accomplishment for her. It’s hard to be courageous against your friends.”
Gillibrand was hardly alone in arguing Franken should step down, and her news release to that effect came just minutes before similar calls from her colleagues. By the time Franken stepped down in December 2017, three dozen Democratic senators had called on him to do so.
Durbin said Tuesday he wished the Senate “had given some time for due process.” But he added that Gillibrand shouldn’t shoulder all the blame.
“There was a momentum behind it which was for a number of reasons unusual,” he said. “She might have been the first name on the list, but it was a strong list of Democratic senators.”
On Capitol Hill, few Democrats were eager to reopen a divisive political issue.
“Why is that coming up now?” asked Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, before waving away any further questions.
“I think it was a very unfortunate time. I’ll leave it at that,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.
At the event Monday, hosted by Mic and Bustle Digital Group, Gillibrand cited a “double standard,” noting that female senators were pressed for comment about Franken far more frequently than their male colleagues. “Who is being held accountable for Al Franken’s decision to resign? Women senators, including me. It’s outrageous. It’s absurd,” she said.
Gillibrand has argued that Sen. Doug Jones, a Democrat, would not have won a special election in Alabama if Franken had not stepped aside and provided the party with a clear message against the Republican candidate, Roy Moore, a state jurist accused of sexually assaulting teenage girls. Others in her party, including Schumer, voiced similar concerns.
In the New Yorker piece, Franken alleges that Schumer forced him to leave, his resignation, saying that if he refused to resign by 5 p.m. the entire Democratic caucus would demand he quit. People close to Schumer disputed that description of events, pointing to Franken’s failure to sufficiently address the allegations both publicly and privately within the Democratic caucus. Schumer, they point out, was one of the last Democrats in the Senate to come out against Franken.
“Senator Schumer warned Senator Franken repeatedly that it was certain that there would be procedures used against him in the Senate, including the fact that Republicans would go to the floor and demand censure, call for stripping of his committee assignments and more,” said Justin Goodman, a spokesman for Schumer. “And given the number of senators who called for his resignation, such moves would have inevitably succeeded.”
The magazine quoted seven current and former Democratic senators — five men and two women — as saying they regretted calling for Franken to step down.
Franken had appeared unhappy with his choice in real time. “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,” he said in his farewell speech.
In recent months, Franken has gingerly waded back into public life, after sinking into what he called a clinical depression. “I’m angry at my colleagues who did this. I think they were just trying to get past one bad news cycle,” he told The New Yorker.
His resignation has divided Democrats ever since, with some activists and donors blaming Gillibrand for costing the party a rising star who was able to effectively take on President Donald Trump. Wealthy contributors, in particular, continue to refer to Franken as a factor in Gillibrand’s inability to raise money for her campaign and her lack of traction in the polls.
Gillibrand expressed frustration she was being blamed for Franken’s choices. “Blaming a woman for the actions of a man: I don’t know. I don’t believe in it,” she said. “I don’t think it’s right.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.