The whole Franken thing was meant to hurt Trump in a sort of “we Democrats take it seriously” sort of way.
It didn’t work. Trump was elected and Franken is out. Sort of a win/win.
I love it when a Dem takes one for the team and then the team loses anyway. It's a win win.
Franken's ouster was really about Roy Moore. Everyone thought Moore was going to win and then there'd be a move by both parties to expel Moore. They'd have no ammo if Franken was still in the Senate after facing his own #MeToo violations. Franken, at the urging of Kirsten Gillibrand, fell on his sword.
And then Moore somehow manages to lose the safest Republican seat in the Senate.
The whole escapade was comical.