Sen. Franken to Yahoo: We need more comedians in Congress
Senator Al Franken says we need more comedians in Congress.
In a conversation about the crumbling of the Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal, Yahoo Finance’s editor in chief Andy Serwer asks the democrat from Minnesota about comments he made during an appearance on the 'Late Show with David Letterman' earlier this month.
On the Late Show, Franken urged his old friend Letterman to run for Senate in his home state of Indiana. Republican Senator Dan Coats has already announced his retirement and a seat will be open. Letterman laughed it off.
“I think we need more satirists, more comedians in the Senate,” Franken tells Yahoo. “I want to hear, Mr. Colbert, “Aye!” Ms. DeGeneres, “Aye!” Mr. Franken “Aye!” Mr. Letterman?” I think “Aye!” Mr. Miller? “No!” referring to his comedian friends, Stephen Colbert, Ellen DeGeneres, David Letterman and Dennis Miller who is the lone conservative in the group.
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Franken is currently in his second term in the Senate. He was narrowly elected in 2008, but won his reelection bid handily in 2014.
“When people come to me — young people — they say, ‘How do I become a United States senator?’” he told Letterman on April 1. “I say, well, do about 35 or 40 years of comedy and then run for the Senate. It’s worked every time.”
It was the senator’s first appearance on the Late Show since he was elected to office in 2008. Franken made frequent appearances on Letterman’s show in the 1980s and 1990s. The comedians are friends from his days as a writer on Saturday Night Live.
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