Dem lawmaker: Franken groping photo was ‘revolting’

Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch (Fla.) on Friday called the photograph showing Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) groping a woman while she was asleep “absolutely revolting” and said America has come to a “moment of reckoning” over sexual assault.

Speaking on CNN’s “New Day,” Deutch said the problem of sexual misconduct in America goes much further than Franken and others who have been accused of similar acts in recent weeks.

“It’s important to focus on what happens next in this case, but this is so much more than just Sen. Franken and all of these others,” Deutch said. “I saw a statistic last night that one in six women in America claim to have been sexually harassed in the workplace.”

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“It’s not just Congress,” he added. “It’s every workplace in America. This is a moment of reckoning in this country.”

Franken apologized Thursday after Los Angeles radio host Leeann Tweeden accused him of forcibly kissing her during a sketch rehearsal for a USO show in 2006 and later groping her chest while she slept.

In a statement about the allegations Thursday, Franken apologized and called for a Senate ethics investigation into himself.

“I understand why we need to listen to and believe women’s experiences,” he said. “I am asking that an ethics investigation be undertaken, and I will gladly cooperate.”

The senator issued the second, more detailed statement Thursday after he faced criticism for insufficiently apologizing in his initial comments.

“The first and most important thing — and if it’s the only thing you care to hear, that’s fine — is: I’m sorry,” he wrote. 

“I respect women. I don’t respect men who don’t,” Franken continued. “And the fact that my own actions have given people a good reason to doubt that makes me feel ashamed.”