WAIT, I THOUGHT IT WAS ALL “ON US:” Kirsten Gillibrand Pays The Price For Speaking Out Against Al Franken.
Gillibrand wasn’t the only senator to publicly call on Franken to step down, but she was the first (but only by minutes) in a wave of female senators ― who were eventually joined by many of their male colleagues on the same day, Dec. 6 ― to do so. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), however, reportedly told Franken in private that he needed to go beforehand.
But Gillibrand has received the brunt of the blame for what happened, with many of her detractors saying the reason she came out against Franken was that she’s an “opportunist” who was positioning herself for a presidential run in 2020. Some Democratic Party donors have been reconsidering whether they would support her in a primary.
Most prominently, Gillibrand has attracted the ire of billionaire George Soros, who has long funded Democratic candidates and causes. Soros recently said he wasn’t sure whom he was supporting for 2020, but that it absolutely wouldn’t be Gillibrand. He accused her of going after Franken, “whom I admire,” to “improve her chances” for president.
Flashback to 2014: President Obama Launches the “It’s On Us” Campaign to End Sexual Assault on Campus. But apparently not Capitol Hill or Hollywood.