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Sen. Al Franken: Trump is ‘the most ill-equipped person to be president that I’ve ever seen’
Al Franken on VTR
Video Set
YOUNGSTOWN
U.S. Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, said Republican Donald Trump is “the most ill-equipped person to be president that I’ve ever seen in a major-party” nominee.
In an exclusive interview Wednesday with The Vindicator, Franken, a Hillary Clinton supporter, said the Democratic presidential nominee is “the strongest, hardest-working, toughest, most experienced person I know for this job.”
Franken, a former comedic actor and writer who’s served in the Senate since July 2009, said that during his time performing in New York City on “Saturday Night Live,” he was “in the same room with [Trump] a number of times,” but never “went up and said, ‘Hi,’ because he didn’t seem like someone that I wanted to get to know.”’
Franken added that Trump is “woefully ignorant of policy and public policy. He seems to, by all accounts, have a very short attention span. I think that’s one of the reasons he really couldn’t have formal preparation for the debates.”
As for Trump’s popularity, Franken said with a laugh, “It’s such an astounding situation. Obviously those who support Trump don’t buy my analysis. But I think most people who really follow this stuff do.”
Franken was in Mahoning County on Wednesday to headline a fundraiser for Democrat Ted Strickland, the ex-governor running for U.S. Senate against incumbent Republican Rob Portman. Franken will join Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, at a rally today in Lorain.
Franken acknowledged that there is a distrust of Clinton.
“There’s been 20-something years of negative press, especially put out by the right-wing press, about her and then there is her using her own server on the emails,” Franken said. “I think she has admitted that was a mistake. If that’s part of the grounds for your distrust, I can understand that, but what I would tell them” is “I’ve known her for a long time and I trust her to do this job.”
Franken said he agrees with Trump that the nation needs to toughen its trade deals and the two oppose the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
“The thing with Trump is most of his issues don’t go beyond one line so I don’t know how much we would be in lock step on the issue of trade,” Franken said.
Franken was a writer and performer on “Saturday Night Live” from 1975 to 1980 and returned from 1985 to 1995.
His best known character was Stuart Smalley, whose catchphrase was “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.”
People ask him to say it “often,” but Franken declines.
“I always say, ‘Thanks for remembering,’ but I don’t do it,” he said.
Why?
“I want to kind of talk about my job now,” he said with a laugh, “which I’m very happy to be in now. A lot of people ask me is being a senator as much fun as it was working on ‘Saturday Night Live?’ The answer is no. Why would it be? But it’s a better job.”