Republicans Call on Roy Moore to Quit Senate Race If Bombshell Report Is True

The key word is “if.”

Bill Clark/ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Nearly a dozen Republican senators, including majority leader Mitch McConnell, have called on Roy Moore to bow out of Alabama’s upcoming special election to fill Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ seat if the allegations detailed in a bombshell Washington Post report prove true. The Post reports that Moore, a religious conservative known for his extremist views, pursued relationships with teenage girls—one as young as 14—when he was in his 30s. 

The statue of limitations has long since passed, so it’s unclear what further proof Republican senators would need beyond the on-the-record accounts of the four women who spoke to the Post about their experiences with Moore. Moore’s exit from the high profile race is unlikely because Alabama law prohibits candidates from withdrawing within 74 days of an election. With the special election scheduled for December 12, Moore’s name will remain on the ballot even if he does decide to drop out.

The former judge has vehemently denied the report, dismissing the allegations as a political attack. In a statement, Moore appeared to accuse the Post of plotting to sink his bid with the story because the paper endorsed his opponent, Democrat Doug Jones. 

Moore has attracted national attention for his extremist conservative views, which include the frequent use of racial slurs, support for criminalizing homosexuality, and Islamophobia. In 2003, he was removed from his office of chief justice for refusing to remove a statue of the Ten Commandments from his courtroom.

https://twitter.com/eschor/status/928696189599600640

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) went a step further and demanded Moore step aside immediately. 

GREAT JOURNALISM, SLOW FUNDRAISING

Our team has been on fire lately—publishing sweeping, one-of-a-kind investigations, ambitious, groundbreaking projects, and even releasing “the holy shit documentary of the year.” And that’s on top of protecting free and fair elections and standing up to bullies and BS when others in the media don’t.

Yet, we just came up pretty short on our first big fundraising campaign since Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting joined forces.

So, two things:

1) If you value the journalism we do but haven’t pitched in over the last few months, please consider doing so now—we urgently need a lot of help to make up for lost ground.

2) If you’re not ready to donate but you’re interested enough in our work to be reading this, please consider signing up for our free Mother Jones Daily newsletter to get to know us and our reporting better. Maybe once you do, you’ll see it’s something worth supporting.

payment methods

GREAT JOURNALISM, SLOW FUNDRAISING

Our team has been on fire lately—publishing sweeping, one-of-a-kind investigations, ambitious, groundbreaking projects, and even releasing “the holy shit documentary of the year.” And that’s on top of protecting free and fair elections and standing up to bullies and BS when others in the media don’t.

Yet, we just came up pretty short on our first big fundraising campaign since Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting joined forces.

So, two things:

1) If you value the journalism we do but haven’t pitched in over the last few months, please consider doing so now—we urgently need a lot of help to make up for lost ground.

2) If you’re not ready to donate but you’re interested enough in our work to be reading this, please consider signing up for our free Mother Jones Daily newsletter to get to know us and our reporting better. Maybe once you do, you’ll see it’s something worth supporting.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate