Al Franken’s rise and fall, from Saturday Night Live, to politics, to disgrace

When Al Franken was mooted as a possible dark horse in the 2020 presidential election, those who knew him warned that he comes with baggage. They little guessed how much.

The Democratic senator announced on Thursday that he will resign in the coming weeks following a string of sexual misconduct allegations. It marked a dizzying rise and fall for the comedian-turned-politician whose legacy on Capitol Hill will be hotly contested.

In his farewell address on the Senate floor, Franken sought to portray himself as a victim. “Some of the allegations against me are simply not true,” he said defiantly. “Others I remember very differently … But this decision is not about me. It’s about the people of Minnesota.”

Not all the people of Minnesota have been taken by surprise by the events of the past three weeks, however. Larry Jacobs, director of the Centre for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, said: “I didn’t know of any of these accusations but he’s a very self-confident person who thinks of himself as special. With some of the accusations you see that: what he felt was being goofy or having his way was clearly unacceptable.”

Franken, 66, who grew up in the Jewish community in St Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis, had appeared to be a point in favour of the argument that politics is enriched by people from varied and colourful backgrounds rather than career politicians.