Al Franken's Not-So-Serious Moments
Minnesota voters took comedian Al Franken seriously when he ran for the state's U.S. Senate seat in 2008. After 238 days of recounts and contested ballots, Franken was sworn in last July. As Franken wraps up his first year as a senator, we bring you some less-than-serious moments featuring the political satirist turned politician.
In this 2007 appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman shortly after Franken announced his run for Senate, Letterman asks Franken point blank: "Can you be funny anymore, or can you not be funny anymore?" Franken responds by explaining that he's a satirist and Letterman is a clown. Touché.
The Full Ginsburg responds:
Jared Bloom: See, this is how you know that Al Franken is not a serious politician. He's doing an interview on a comedy show! If you want to be taken seriously, you have to go on a show that's not about getting laughs, like Meet the Press. Or The Tonight Show.
Eric Cunningham: Franken says the difference between what Letterman does and what he did was that Franken "makes people think". I think I missed the message in the Stuart Smalley movie then.
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