Al Franken is many things. A lovable comedian who spent nearly two decades writing and performing for Saturday Night Live. A liberal political activist. A prolific writer of screenplays and nonfiction, including "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations."
Currently, Franken is a junior US Senator for Minnesota, and on Thursday, he expressed support for the Iran nuclear deal.
"It isn’t a perfect agreement. But it is a strong one," he wrote in an editorial for CNN.
One thing Al Franken is not, is gay. But, could have fooled Haaretz. Here’s how they tweeted Franken’s announcement.
It’s unclear how the Israeli newspaper made the mistake. A number of US politicians have faced rumors of homosexuality. Most recently, former Congressman Aaron Schock. Franken, a longtime defender of LGBT rights, has never been the subject of such speculation, and would probably shrug it off if he were.
He’s also been married to the same woman for the past forty years.
It’s possible that Haaretz was confusing Franken with his alter ego on SNL, Stuart Smalley, the ever-upbeat, ever-inspirational – though completely unlicensed – motivational therapist.
Plus, the detail is entirely unrelated. Even if Haaretz was correct in assuming that Franken is gay, his sexual orientation adds nothing to the Iran nuclear deal conversation.
With Twitter’s 140-character limit, surely there’s a more relevant adjective to include.
— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) August 13, 2015
— Luke Brinker (@LukeBrinker) August 13, 2015
— Anthony Weiner (@anthonyweiner) August 13, 2015
The paper was quick to delete the tweet, replacing it with an announcement of Game of Thrones producer Carolyn Strauss' support for the Iran deal. Strauss, for the record, is also not gay.
