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The women of "The View" made it clear there's no place for sexual harassment in politics - regardless of party affiliation - after Minnesota senator Al Franken released an apology to an anchorwoman who accused him of misconduct on a 2006 USO tour.
Reporter/model Leeann Tweeden accused Franken of writing a sketch where he'd come at her for a kiss, but she planned to turn away to get more laughs. After he allegedly insisted on rehearsing the moment, she said he "came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth." She added it left her feeling "disgusted and violated." Tweeden also shared a photo of Franken grabbing her breasts while she slept on a cargo plane following the event. "I felt violated all over again. Embarrassed. Belittled. Humiliated."
"It's very disappointing to hear this about Al Franken. He was a very funny comedian at this time, he's a Senator from Minnesota, he's a great advocate for women and other," Joy Behar said. "It's just so disappointing. But men of all different stripes are out there doing crazy shit."
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View StoryMeghan McCain said she knows Tweeden personally, adding, "this is a woman whose character I vouch for." "The people who go over on USO tours and sacrifice themselves and put themselves in danger to entertain their troops, the women should be be subjected to being groped," she added. "I don't care what kind of figure they are for Democrats right now."
"It's not acceptable for anyone to do it. This has nothing to do with your political leaning, this is not a partisan issue, you shouldn't be doing this and you should know better," Whoopi Goldberg added. "Sometimes guys feel like they can make these kind of jokes and I think we have to make it as uncomfortable as women are making it to remind people, don't touch me."
Sunny Hostin then read Frankel's apology, which came in as they were filming. "I certainly don't remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann," he said in a statement. "As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn't. I shouldn't have done it."
"If somebody did that to me when I was asleep on a plane, lawyer up, quick," McCain said. "You would have a big big problem."
When asked whether the apology makes the situation any better, Goldberg said, "He didn't do it to me. I want to know how she feels."
Behar then brought up the sexual harassment allegations brought up against Donald Trump, something McCain was quick to shut down.
"This is serious, I know her, and when you're saying, 'What about Trump?', right now we're talking about Leeann," she said. "This is an epidemic, bipartisan, across party lines, in your government, entertainment. It is an epidemic across the board."
