A bombshell report that four women accused Senate candidate Roy Moore of groping, kissing and pursuing them as teens has prompted a fallout as his fellow Republicans gauge how to respond.

The report, published Thursday in the Washington Post, identifies women who claim Moore asked them on dates while while he served as an assistant district attorney in his home state of Alabama in the 1970s and 1980s. Moore, a firebrand and religious conservative, called the report "completely false," blaming the Democratic Party.

Senate Republicans quickly distanced themselves. John McCain called the allegations "disqualifying." John Cornyn, a Moore backer, described them as "deeply disturbing." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he "must step aside" if the allegations are true.

But the state auditor of Alabama's home state rushed to Moore's defense. And he invoked the mother of Jesus, Mary, and her husband, Joseph.

“There is nothing to see here,” Jim Ziegler told the Washington Examiner. "The allegations are that a man in his early 30s dated teenage girls. Even the Washington Post report says that he never had sexual intercourse with any of the girls and never attempted sexual intercourse."

He later added: “Also take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus.”

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