Al Franken: ‘I Am Sorry. I Know There Are No Magic Words That I Can Say to Regain Your Trust’ (Video)

‘I Am Embarrassed. I Feel Ashamed.’

U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-MN) says he is sorry after allegations of groping women. 

“I am sorry,” Sen. Franken said to reporters Monday afternoon in his first press conference since the allegations came out. “I know there are no magic words that I can say to regain your trust, and I know that’s going to take time. I’m ready to start that process and it starts with going back to work.” 

“I know I’m going to have to be much more conscious in these circumstances, much more careful, much more sensitive, and that this will not happen again going forward,” Franken also promised.

“Again, it’s going to take a long time for me to regain people’s trust, but I hope that starting work today I can do that,” he added.

Sen. Franken said this has been “a shock,” “extremely humbling.” 

“I am embarrassed. I feel ashamed,” Franken said. 

Asked if there might be more women coming forward, he said he did not know.

“If you had asked me two weeks ago would any woman come forward with an allegation like this, I would have said no. So I cannot speculate.”

Franken would not say if he would resign.

“I’m not going to get into that,” he said. “I’ve been trying to take responsibility by apologizing,” he added, saying he will work to regain the trust of the voters.

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