title: DEMOCRAT SENATOR AL FRANKEN Thought It Would Be Hilarious To Do An SNL Skit About Drugging and Raping 60 Minutes Reporter: “when Lesley’s passed out, I take her to the closet and rape her”
text: Democratic Senator Al Franken   who has been accused of kissing a woman without her consent and pretending to grope her in a photo   once pitched an SNL sketch about raping a journalist, it has emerged.The remarks were made in 1995, when Franken and other writers on the show were working up a sketch about then-60 Minutes host Andy Rooney finding a bottle of pills in his desk, New York Magazine reported at the time.As the team batted ideas around, Franken suggested that the pills might be used by Rooney to drug Lesley Stahl at which point he would  take her to the closet and rape her .The sketch was part of an ongoing series in which Norm Macdonald portrayed Rooney as an out-of-touch misanthrope with a tenuous grasp on reality.Macdonald had suggested that Rooney could say  I don t know what the pills are for   what I do know is, the bottle is mostly filled with cotton. Franken then chipped in with:  And,  I give the pills to Lesley Stahl. Then, when Lesley s passed out, I take her to the closet and rape her. Or,  That s why you never see Lesley until February.  Or,  When she passes out, I put her in various positions and take pictures of her. Stahl was a contributor to 60 Minutes at the time. Macdonald then asked,  What if Rooney rapes Mike Wallace? And then says,  I guess that makes me bad.  Is it funnier with a black guy? Or two old white guys? Franken responded:  What about,  I drag Mike into my office and rape him. Right here! I guess that makes me bad. The sketch never made it to air, and it s questionable whether it was ever intended to do so.But the 1995 report has now resurfaced   as it did in 2008, when Franken made his successful run for Minnesota Senator.At the time, his campaign said:  Al understands, and the people of Minnesota understand, the difference between what a satirist does and what a senator does. But newly emerged claims that Franken kissed a woman without her consent in 2006, and pretended to grope her in a photo while she was sleeping have been tougher for the comedian to address. Daily MailWatch Leeann Tweeden talk about Senator Franken s repulsive sexual assault against her: 