Co-hosts of ABC’s The View debated the handling of sexual impropriety allegations against former Senator Al Franken Tuesday following new reporting in the New Yorker, going as far as to say his initial accuser’s story has “holes.”
“A lot of the things that she told us, Tweeden, the girl who accused him — the woman, I should say — some of it has some holes. It doesn’t mean that I’m saying she’s lying but there are some holes in her story that should have come out,” Joy Behar said of Tweeden, a radio host Meghan McCain quickly pointed out is not only her friend, but not Franken’s sole accuser.
“I’ve said before that I thought he needed due process,” said Behar of the Democrat from Minnesota. “He just left and nobody even gave him some kind of a trial.”
Behar cited “no ethics committee, no nothing” and called Franken’s departure “kind of a political hit in many ways.” In the original New Yorker piece, Franken himself is quoted saying he asked Sen. Chuck Schumer for due process “and he said no.”
“The problem with him staying in office would be: Imagine him questioning Brett Kavanaugh,” McCain suggested, referring to the Senate questioning of the then-Supreme Court nominee, who was accused of sexual assault himself.
From there, Sunny Hostin explained that as a former sex crimes prosecutor, she tends to err on the side of believing an accuser upfront, but she also believes in due process.
Watch below:
FRANKEN UNFAIRLY PUSHED OUT? Former Sen. Al Franken spoke out in a new interview that he “absolutely” regrets resigning from the Senate after several women accused him of unwanted kissing or touching — the co-hosts discuss if he should have resigned. https://t.co/T7mdpCWAbv pic.twitter.com/IgyeA0NLZp
— The View (@TheView) July 23, 2019