Al Franken Pushes David Letterman For Senate: ‘I Think You Should Run’

Al Franken has the perfect formula for becoming a U.S. Senator, “Do about 35, 40 years of comedy, and then run for the Senate.” David Letterman just happens to have finished the prerequisite, which brings up a question: Should Letterman run for the Senate? Senator Franken says he’d like the late night comedian to be a colleague on the Hill.

Minnesota Senator and former comedian Al Franken appeared on David Letterman’s Late Show last night to criticize Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The law has been the center of the media’s attention as many businesses and celebrities are coming together to condemn the act as a blank check for allowing discrimination against the LGBT community.

Al Franken explained that LGBT people need further protections against discrimination, rather than laws that enable it.

“LGBT Americans don’t have the same rights that pretty much everybody else has. You can’t discriminate against someone in employment, because they’re black or because they’re Jewish, but you can in many states because they’re LGBT. And we got to end that, and do a national law saying you can’t do that.”

Of course, for David Letterman, the RFRA is a bit more personal. He was born and raised in Indiana, and as Letterman explains, he loves his state and will most likely be buried there.

Unfortunately, Indiana is now being blasted by many critics, including Franken, who added, “It’s kind of a disgrace what happened in your state, sorry.”

But David Letterman isn’t content to just sit back and let his state’s name be dragged through the mud.

He wants to do something to affect Governor Mike Pence into changing course, so he asked the Senator, “What can I do now to make the Governor feel uncomfortable?”

Luckily for Letterman, a new opportunity might be just around the corner. According to the Washington Post, Republican Sen. Dan Coats recently announced he would not seek reelection in 2016. By then, the late night comedian will have very little to do.

According to People, the last episode of the Late Show with David Letterman will air on May 20, 2015, and the talk show will be followed by the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

The timing couldn’t be better.

Nevertheless, by the time the comedian gets into the Senate, the RFRA will likely be a passé subject. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Governor Mike Pence is reacting to intense pressure on the law and has called for a new bill that clarifies the RFRA will not allow businesses to discriminate against the LGBT community. Whether the amendment will be enough to satisfy critics remains to be seen.

In the meantime, Al Franken has a new comedian-senator to train.

[Image via Youtube/Late Show with David Letterman]