4 Democratic senators call on Trump to resign over misconduct allegations

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called on President Donald Trump to resign over allegations of sexual misconduct on Monday, the latest of five lawmakers in the chamber to do so.

“President Trump should resign,” Gillibrand said during an interview on CNN. “These allegations are credible; they are numerous. I’ve heard these women’s testimony, and many of them are heartbreaking.”

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The New York Democrat added that if Trump did not “immediately resign,” Congress “should have appropriate investigations of his behavior and hold him accountable.”

The remarks came on the heels of similar calls by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), all of whom urged the president to either step down following the announced resignation of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) over sexual harassment allegations.

“We have a president who acknowledged on tape that he assaulted women,” Sanders tweeted Thursday after Franken said in a speech on the Senate floor that he would resign in the coming weeks. “I would hope that he pays attention to what’s going on and think about resigning.”

Booker, who commented on the controversy over the weekend during an interview in Alabama, said on Monday he believed that the accusations against Trump were credible and more serious than those against Franken. Speaking to reporters in Newark, he drew a comparison between Trump and Senate candidate Roy Moore, who has been accused of sexual misconduct and molestation by several women in Alabama.

“What has been credibly said about Donald Trump and what has been credibly said about Roy Moore is significantly worse, whether it’s praying on teenagers — a 14-year-old — or the more than a dozen women that have come forward with credible stories about the president of the United States, who on tape admitted to that very same behavior,” Booker said. “So if we now are doing the right thing in this country, and we’re having a comeuppance and we’re holding people accountable — if Al Franken just did the right thing and resigned, it is time for Donald Trump to resign as well.”

Franken, who was accused of groping by several women, took a parting shot at Trump during the address, lamenting the “irony” that he was leaving office “while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office.”

After an explosive tape was unearthed last year in which Trump boasted about groping women on a hot mic while interviewing for “Access Hollywood,” more than a dozen women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against him, including claims of sexual assault and sexual abuse.

On Monday, during a press conference in New York City, four of the women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct — Jessica Leeds, Samantha Holvey, Rachel Crooks and Lisa Boyne — called on Congress to investigate the allegations against the president.

Leeds said she hoped that the “#MeToo” movement, which has inspired dozens of women to come forward with allegations of sexual impropriety against powerful men in recent months, could persuade lawmakers to take action and investigate Trump.

“I am hoping that this will come forward and produce enough pressure on Congress to address it, more than just for their own members but to address it with the president,” Leeds said.

Ryan Hutchins contributed to this report.