This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Two more women have alleged inappropriate behavior by the Minnesota Democrat Al Franken, saying he touched their buttocks during campaign events in his first run for the US Senate.

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The women spoke to Huffington Post on condition of anonymity, saying the events occurred in Minneapolis in 2007 and 2008. In a statement, Franken said: “It’s difficult to respond to anonymous accusers, and I don’t remember those campaign events.”

Last week, Franken was accused of forcibly kissing Los Angeles radio anchor Leeann Tweeden while rehearsing for a 2006 USO tour. He was also photographed with his hands above her breasts as she slept. Franken, 66, apologized.

A second woman, Lindsay Menz, alleged on Monday that Franken grabbed her buttocks during a photo op at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010. Franken, who was by then a senator, said he didn’t remember the picture but expressed remorse that Menz felt “disrespected”.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, has called for an ethics investigation, which Franken says he supports.

Before entering politics, Franken was a comedian, Saturday Night Live cast member, writer and liberal talk radio host. After spending much of his nearly nine years as senator trying to shed his image as a comic, quietly digging into issues like internet access and consumer protection, he emerged under the Trump presidency as a leading and popular national Democratic voice, often using comedy as a weapon.

Franken’s rise has now been interrupted by the allegations of inappropriate behavior and he has not been seen publicly since the first claims arose.

“It’s always a great disappointment when leaders you like and admire do bad stuff,” said Mike Lux, a liberal Democratic consultant. Lux said it was premature to say how the allegations would affect Franken’s career. Speaking before the Huffington Post report was published, Lux added: “If more incidents come to light, he’s got a real problem.”

It’s always a great disappointment when leaders you like and admire do bad stuff Mike Lux, Democratic consultant

Franken canceled a sold-out appearance in Atlanta to promote his book, Al Franken, Giant of the Senate, and aides said he was “spending time with his family and doing a lot of reflecting”.

Franken came to the Senate in 2009, after a months-long recount gave him a 312-vote victory. He immediately distanced himself from his decades in comedy, which included off-color jokes about rape and disparaging women, and avoided national reporters.

Instead, he focused on building a reputation as a studious senator, pushing legislation to crack down on Wall Street rating agencies he considered complicit in the 2007 economic collapse. As a signature issue, he adopted the push to protect “net neutrality”, an Obama policy barring internet providers from blocking or hindering websites. This Tuesday, the Trump administration’s Federal Communications Commission said it will dismantle that rule.

Franken also helped shape parts of Barack Obama’s healthcare law and tackled farm and mental health issues. He easily secured a second six-year term in 2014, defeating a Republican businessman.

He appeared on his first Sunday network talk show late in his first term, amidst signs he was bolstering his national profile. But it was Trump’s emergence that teased out a new Franken, a pivot from staid senator to liberal attack dog.

In withering interrogations in the Senate, Franken has clashed with a parade of Trump cabinet appointees.

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“He made those guys sweat,” former Senate Democratic aide Jim Manley said. “He’s got the ability to channel some of the populist rage against the administration.”

Franken clashed last month with Jeff Sessions over the attorney general’s descriptions of his contacts with Russians during the presidential campaign. At a January confirmation hearing, Franken bore into education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos when she seemed unable to answer a policy question.

He opposed Trump supreme court pick Neil Gorsuch and battled with Rick Perry over the energy secretary’s skepticism that increased carbon dioxide emissions cause global warming. He told Tom Price, who has since resigned as health secretary, that it was “very hard to believe” he didn’t realize he had owned tobacco stocks.

Trump has himself been accused of sexual misconduct by 16 women, accusations which he denies. He responded to allegations against Franken on Twitter, saying the picture with the sleeping Tweeden was “really bad, speaks a thousand words”.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders subsequently said the difference between allegations against Franken and Trump was that “Franken has admitted wrongdoing and the president hasn’t”.

The president was captured on tape in 2005, in a conversation with the Access Hollywood host Billy Bush, boasting about sexual assault. Trump said he would see women and “grab them by the pussy”, adding: “When you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything.”