The former senator and comedian talks current political landscape
February 2025 – Drew University welcomed former senator and comedian Al Franken to the Drew Forum stage for his unique perspectives on the state of U.S. politics.
The event, moderated by Bergen Record journalist Charles Stile, was generously sponsored by the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation. It was held at the Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC), available via livestream, and broadcast for free throughout the nearby Morristown Medical Center.
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Credit: Mayo Performing Arts Center
After running through some top moments from his days as a writer and performer for Saturday Night Live, Franken covered numerous timely political topics gripping the country, delivered in his trademark comedic style. A few key takeaways:
How Democrats can handle Trump’s second presidency: “Trump is putting stuff out so fast that reacting to anything gets lost. Part of this is we’re going to have to give it time and then respond to things, like I hated when he blamed the air crash in Washington on DEI…It was just awful and I think we needed to attack him on that. No other president has done that after a tragedy. After a tragedy you always get to be the Consoler-in-Chief and share the grief with the country and with the families.”
Changes in USAID: “USAID is being defunded, which is just a humanitarian disaster. This is help we give to countries that are poor countries and need the help and it helps us with our relations with other countries. The richest man in the world did this—cut off funding to the USAID. I can’t think of anything more ironic than that. We should definitely speak out as much as we can.”
How Democrats can regain appeal: “It’s not a lost cause. Believe me, Trump is going to make lots of mistakes and give us openings. He is trending down (in approval ratings) from when he was even when he was inaugurated. He’s down around 47 percent or 46. He’s going to run into trouble, I really believe that.”
His most enduring accomplishment in the U.S. Senate:”I was the sixtieth vote for the Affordable Care Act. And there was enough time—I was on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee—to write some pieces of that bill and I wrote something called the Medical Loss Ratio that says insurance companies have to spend at least 80 percent of the premiums they get on actual health care and not on advertising, not on CEO salaries.”
Mixing humor as a politician: “My team told me don’t be funny. Remember, I won by 312 votes. They said don’t be funny. Don’t be funny in committee. Don’t be funny on the floor. Just don’t be funny. I said, ‘I got it, don’t be funny.’ The first thing I have to do (after getting sworn in) is you’re supposed to write little missives to constituents and the first one was to Ruth Anderson of Marshall, Minnesota, who’s turning 110. So, I got my stationary out and I wrote, ‘Dear Ruth, You have a bright future.’ My new assistant takes it to my chief of staff and in a flash he says, ‘What is this?!’ I say, ‘It’s a joke!’ He says, ‘You think Ruth Anderson will find it funny?!’ And I say, ‘Well, she’s 110.’ He says, ‘Ok, well, you think her family will find it funny?!’ And then I thought of her 90-year-old son…”
The 2024-25 Drew Forum series kicked off in October with Emmy-winning sportscaster Bob Costas. The final event will welcome award-winning comedian and New York Times bestselling author Andy Borowitz to MPAC on April 28. Tickets are available here.
