President Trump has joined the backlash against former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, the Republican candidate in the state’s U.S. Senate race accused of pursuing an underage girl for sex more than 40 years ago.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said overnight Thursday the president agrees with GOP colleagues that Mr. Moore should step aside if the allegations are true.
“Like most Americans the president believes we cannot allow a mere allegation, in this case one from many years ago, to destroy a person’s life. However, the president also believes that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside,” Mrs. Sanders told reports traveling with the president in Asia aboard Air Force One.
The Washington Post reported that a woman says Mr. Moore initiated the encounter in 1979, when she was 14 and he was 32. Three other women told the newspaper Mr. Moore pursued them when they were 16 to 18 years of age.
Mr. Moore, an arch conservative, was already at odds with the Washington Republicans, including the president, who backed the establishment candidate Sen. Luther Strange in the GOP primary.
Mr. Moore denied the allegations and vowed to remain in the race.
SEE ALSO: GOP tells Roy Moore to step down if allegations of teen sex are true
“Their goal is to frustrate and slow down our campaign’s progress to help the Obama-Clinton Machine silence our conservative message,” he said in an email to supporters. “That’s why I must be able to count on the help of God-fearing conservatives like you to stand with me at this critical moment.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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