President Donald Trump finds allegations of sexual misconduct against Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore as “very troubling” and believes it is the people of the state who decide on choosing their lawmaker, White House said Thursday.
The statement comes after several women alleged that Moore sexually harassed them in their teens.
“The President believes that these allegations are very troubling and should be taken seriously, and he thinks that the people of Alabama should make the decision on who their next senator should be,” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told journalists at a briefing.
Questioned if the president thinks Moore, a former judge with far-right views, should stay in, the Press Secretary referred to Trump’s statement which calls Moore to drop out of the race if the allegations are true.
“Look, the President said in his statement earlier this week that, if the allegations are true, then that Roy Moore should step aside. He still firmly believes that,” Sanders said.
Moore, a former chief justice, continues to deny the allegations.
Republican leaders on the Capitol Hill have been more unequivocal in their calls for Moore to step aside.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis have said they believe women who have come forward with allegations against Moore as credible and feel that the controversial candidate should step aside.
The Republican National Congress has cut off funding ties to Moore, who is contesting against Democrat Doug Jones in the Dec. 12 special election that takes place to fill the seat vacated by the now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Meanwhile, a Fox News poll Thursday said Jones was ahead of Moore by 8 points with 50 to 42 percent support of voters respectively with women voters backing Jones with 58 percent to 32 percent difference.
