Al Franken: Has Democracy Reached a Tipping Point?

Former Senator Al Franken discusses the radicalization of the Republican party and the threats facing American Democracy.  During the interview, Al had this to say about his Republican colleagues: “I stay in touch with some of my former Republican colleagues and I will give them crap. I'll text them and I send them Christmas cards. And I ask them about their families and I know them and we joke and stuff like that. I got along pretty well with my colleagues, I thought. I will just chide them and basically say, 'Why can't you just come out and say that Biden won the election?' And they'll be, blah blah blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It ultimately comes down to, 'I'd lose my primary.' That's what it comes down to. I finally get them to say that. And these guys, I understand. They want to be senators and they want to stay in power and they want to be senators.” Al Franken got his start as a stand up comedian, and was a writer on Saturday Night Live for 15 seasons in between 1975 and 1995. He won five Emmys during his time on the show, and also won two Grammys for his comedy and spoken word albums. Later in his career, Al noticed that conservative narratives dominated radio airwaves, so he created The Al Franken Show in an attempt to even the playing field. Al said this about creating the show: “I’m doing this because I want to use my energies to get Bush unelected.” The show aired on Air America Radio from 2004-2007. In 2007, Al announced he was running for the senate seat in Minnesota. He won the general election by only 312 votes. He served as senator from 2009 to 2018.  Now, Al hosts the Al Franken Podcast, and is currently on tour.  He is also the author of nine books, four of which were #1 New York Times Best Sellers. You can find them all here. You can find Al on Twitter at @AlFranken.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices