Long Island Congresswoman Kathleen Rice on Monday called for Sen. Al Franken and Rep. John Conyers to step down, and tore into House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for not taking a tougher stance on sexual harassment.
Rice (D-Garden City) became the first House or Senate member to call for Franken (D-Minn.) and Conyers (D-Mich.) to resign, in light of multiple accusations that they inappropriately touched women.
Asked on CNN if Franken should keep his job, Rice said: “I don’t think so.”
Rice later responded to a call on Twitter by Democratic consultant Lis Smith for Franken to step down by saying: “Couldn’t agree more. Thanks for speaking up about this.”
Also in her CNN interview, Rice went off on her own leader, Pelosi (D-Calif.), who defended Conyers on Sunday, saying she trusted his judgment on whether he should step down from Congress.
“People are seeing us circle the wagons and protect our own,” Rice said. “Whether it’s Donald Trump not coming out against Roy Moore, and supporting him to the extent that he is, or if it’s Nancy Pelosi protecting John Conyers and saying that she leaves it up to him to make the right decision. I think that’s ridiculous.”
Rice said lawmakers accused of sexual harassment need to be turned aside, in the same way the private sector has cast out Harvey Weinstein and Charlie Rose.
“I think if you ask any person on the street, do you think the action that CBS took with Charlie Rose was appropriate? Or Louis C.K., or anyone else in Hollywood, Harvey Weinstein, they would say, ‘Yes, they took the right action,’” Rice said. “Why can’t we do the same thing in Washington?”
She continued: “There should be professional repercussions for every single harasser. And it seems like the private sector has it right and us in Congress don’t.”