Al Franken Recalls Wanting To Call Justice Scalia's Dissent 'Very Gay'

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minnesota) said on “Conan” that he had to rein in his humor to prove he was a “serious” workhorse when he won his first senatorial race by just 312 votes.

But the clip from Tuesday’s show, which originally aired back in August, shows the former “Saturday Night Live” trouper still itches to make people laugh. So when it came time to write a letter congratulating a constituent on turning 110, he resorted to his old ways.

“I’m a comedy writer, so I’m sitting at my desk and I go, ‘Dear Ruth, you have a bright future,’” said Franken, who was promoting his book Al Franken, Giant of the Senate.

His staff nixed the birthday wish, he told host Conan O’Brien.

In 2015, a politically-established Franken asked his office to pen a press release applauding the Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage while calling Justice Antonin Scalia’s dissenting opinion “very gay.”

Yeah, that letter never got written.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.