Shameless: Al Franken Won’t Cancel Promo with Kathy Griffin

CNN announced it’s dropping Kathy Griffin from its New Year’s Eve show after Griffin posed in a gruesome photo holding a bloodied fake head of President Trump — a photo that millions of Americans, including children, have now seen.

But one man is standing tall in support of Griffin — former comedian and now liberal U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.).

“Kathy Griffin did not misspeak or misstep. She plotted & posed for photoshoot.”

Franken said on CNN on Wednesday morning that he won’t be canceling an event with Kathy Griffin promoting his book in Beverly Hills, saying Griffin “did the right thing asking for forgiveness” and can recover from what he called a “horrible mistake.”

But maybe there’s a reason Franken is so understanding.

At the Republican National Convention in New York City in 2004, Franken himself was caught on tape joking about helping to assassinate President George W. Bush.

Standing on a subway platform talking with a man who was identified as a sign-language interpreter working for Bush, Franken said:

“You know what would be a really funny stupid thing for you to do would have been like,” and he began moving his hands as though he were providing a sign-language interpretation: “‘Al-Qaida friends of mine. I’ve scoped out the place. The way to get the president is to come through the kitchen, which is downstairs.'” Both he and the sign language interpreter laughed heartily at the idea.

In 2015, Franken boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress, saying he was “uncomfortable” attending it.

Franken is scheduled for the book event with Griffin on July 7, 2017, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California.

A social media campaign, however, is already underway to stop it.

“Al, how’s that sold out show at the Wallis Annenberg Center gonna play out?” one Twitter user wrote. “Is your cohost Kathy gonna bring the severed head??”

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Several others listed the phone number for the Wallis Annenberg center, and urged people to call.

“Phone (310) 246-3800. Please call the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts — let them know there will be a HUGE PROTEST!” wrote another.

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Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, meanwhile, batted down any idea that the Griffin-ISIS photo was a mistake, tweeting: “Kathy Griffin did not misspeak or misstep. She plotted & posed for photoshoot. Ample time for reflection/correction.”

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