New from Bernie Sanders: "I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine.
New from Bernie Sanders: “I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine. In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.â€
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur.bsky.social) 2026-07-07T16:20:51.879Z
= new reply since forum marked as read
This just smacks of arrogance
He was a giant red flag for me when the lame response to the first allegations came out. He never says anything about protecting and restoring women's rights or anything indicating even a smidgen of respect for women or other identities. That's an automatic 'no' for my vote.
He had all the talking points to get people to listen to him, does he actually believe in these things? Hard to say but I doubt it, he has been lying this whole time so how can we think he's going to be good for us in office?
He came out of nowhere and suddenly had a campaign based on big talk with no record. And if you look closer into his record, there's not much there to help us get any idea of what he would do with the power of the people. He seems to have issues with the truth, consent, respect and understanding that lies will come out.
And when he does, like probably by tomorrow COB. So then, the next ranked candidate who was on the same ballot should be the selection for replacement since we have already voted that preference as second choice after the alleged nominee drops out.
It seems reasonable, to me, that would be the process since actual closure of the election has not taken place.
And the entire Democratic Party backed him over Mamdani.
Some self-awareness would be nice here OP. Sheeeesh!!!!
There is Massachusetts, Connecticut, and "the rest of them" are all interchangeable 
I guess I just had Bernie on the mind. I figure everyone else were being too polite to point out my dumb mistake, but you sir, are fearless! 
US Senators active at that time who did not tell Franken in public or in private to resign were 5, and of those 5, only Manchin said he should not resign.
3 of the other 4 (Coons, Schatz, and Shaheen) were on the Senate Ethics Committee and could not comment either way.
The 5th of the five was the now convicted and imprisoned Menendez, who was under indictment and refused to comment.
Other than Manchin, those other 4, if not on the Ethics Committee or under indictment would have joined every other Dem (except for Manchin) and called for Franken to resign.
The group of Dem women Senators met and coordinated for a couple weeks or so before they all came out, basically at the same time, with Gillibrand first by a few minutes and then follwed by many others. Schumer was well aware of what they all would do and almost for sure signed off on it.
I am not a complete fan of Gillibrand for other reasons that have occurred more recently, but she has been unfairly made into the sole main scapegoat by many over the years, as if without her none of it would have happened. That is simply not based in reality IMHO.
‘Their patience had worn incredibly thin’: How the dam broke on Al Franken
https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/06/politics/senators-al-franken-resignation
Nearly three weeks after sexual harassment allegations first emerged against Sen. Al Franken, a wave of Democratic senators — in coordination and following a flurry of text messages and phone calls — called for his resignation in rapid succession Wednesday morning.
Starting around 11:30 a.m. ET, the senators posted statements in a coordinated effort, one after the other, on social media, saying the Minnesota Democrat should step down.
Some comments were elaborate, lengthy and loaded with a moral message. Others, like that of Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, were straight to the point. “Al Franken should resign,” she simply tweeted.
Within the next 90 minutes, 16 Democrats – 10 of them women – and one Republican senator – Susan Collins of Maine – had publicly urged their colleague to vacate his seat. Capitol Hill had been on edge for weeks as more accusations were made public and as an ethics investigation was looming, yet no one had publicly called for Franken’s resignation.
Democratic women led the charge of more than two dozen senators calling on their embattled colleague, Sen. Al Franken, to resign.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/democratic-women-senators-call-franken-resign-amid-sexual-misconduct-allegations-n827036
Democratic women on Wednesday led the charge of more than two dozen senators who called on their embattled colleague, Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, to resign after multiple women accused him of harassment or sexual misconduct. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Kamala Harris of California, Patty Murray of Washington and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin kicked off the stampede on Wednesday, all putting out statements within minutes of one another saying it was time for Franken to go.
By the evening, at least 35 Democrats — including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York — were calling on him to quit, and Franken's office said the senator was planning an announcement from the Senate floor Thursday morning at 11:45. Some fellow Democrats said they believe he will announce he is resigning. The flood of calls came just one day after Rep. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat who has also been accused of sexual misconduct, announced he was resigning following calls from leaders in his own party to quit.
Gillibrand was the first woman in the Senate to call on Franken to quit, writing in a lengthy Facebook post that "enough is enough" when it came to her Minnesota colleague. "While Senator Franken is entitled to have the Ethics Committee conclude its review, I believe it would be better for our country if he sent a clear message that any kind of mistreatment of women in our society isn't acceptable by stepping aside to let someone else serve," she wrote.
Her note was quickly followed by tweets from McCaskill — who posted "Al Franken should resign" — and Hassan, who wrote, "It is clear that Al Franken has engaged in a pattern of egregious and unacceptable behavior toward women." Within moments, Harris had tweeted, "Sexual harassment and misconduct should not be allowed by anyone and should not occur anywhere" and that "the best thing for Senator Franken to do is step down," while Hirono referred to the choice by Time magazine to name "The Silence Breakers" of the #MeToo movement as its 2017 Person of the Year on Wednesday in calling on Franken to quit.
