in which she alleged that Franken had forcibly kissed her and “aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth,” and that he had taken a photo of her while she was sleeping in which he appeared to be grabbing her breasts. Soon after, more women came forward to describe instances in which Franken had tried to kiss them or had groped them during photo ops.
man whose actions were taken out of context by a hysterical mob, a narrative that has gained in strength to counter the sunlight of the reckoning promised by Me Too. Complicating the story is the suggestion that Tweeden was, as Mayer heavily implies in her piece, part of a rightwing hatchet job meant to bring him down.
Mayer spoke with seven of Franken’s former colleagues who now regret calling for his resignation, several of whom highlighted what they believe to be a lack of due process, a tedious argument that has become standard operating practice in the backlash to Me Too. Patrick Leahy described the decision as “one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made” in his time in the Senate.
Another SNL staffer, Jane Curtin, brushes off the photo of Franken and a sleeping Tweeden as a joke: “The photo was funny because she’s wearing a flak jacket, and he’s looking straight at the camera and pretending he’s trying to fondle her breasts. But the humor is he can’t get to them—if a bullet can’t get them, Al can’t get them.
Right away, the use of the word “hysterical” really raises red flags for me about the New Yorker article, before I’ve even read it. Thanks for your analysis.