Following an emotional and damning press conference in which Beverly Young Nelson came forward to accuse Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore of sexually assaulting her when she was 16, CNN’s Brooke Baldwin brought on Moore campaign official Steve Guede to react to the latest news.

Guede told Baldwin he didn’t “really have a reaction on that” before stating that he felt it was “very curious” that he hadn’t heard of this or the other sexual misconduct stories about Moore until recently, highlighting that he’s worked on previous political campaigns for Moore. The Calhoun County Coordinator added that Moore was a victim of establishment politics.

“There’s not just a swamp in Washington, D.C. — there’s a swamp in Alabama and our capital too,” Guede said. “And he was a victim of swamp politics when he was here twice as the Supreme Court justice. So that’s what I can tell you.”

Later in the interview, Baldwin brought up Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stating that he believed the women accusing Moore as he called for Moore to step aside in the race. Guede noted that McConnell “is not liked in the state of Alabama at all” and that he’s heard folks say that if “Mitch McConnell doesn’t like [Moore] makes me want to vote for [Moore].”

The CNN anchor pointed out that McConnell is not the only Republican saying this about Moore as she brought up Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) stating that the details of Moore’s denials aren’t very convincing.

“Again, we have another one of those Republicans who always sides against them in Susan Collins,” Guede responded. “And Senator [Mike] Lee — that shocked me that he came out so quick, but the rest of them are kind of what I like to call lightweight Republicans who don’t stand on principle at all.”

The Moore campaign official was also pressed on the recent comments by National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), who said that Moore should be expelled from the Senate should he be elected. “Is he a lightweight Republican too?” Baldwin added.

“That’s a breach of the Constitution and I don’t think folks in Alabama will rest well with,” Guede said in response.

As far as how he would react if President Donald Trump would call on Moore to drop out, Guede noted that he would say that “people are innocent until proven guilty” and that Moore is “being tried in the court of public opinion.” Baldwin would point out that there is not going to be any court date on any of these allegations so it is essentially a “she said/he said.”

Watch the clip above, via CNN.

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Justin Baragona on Twitter: @justinbaragona

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