Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of the evangelical Liberty University, said Friday he believes Roy Moore over four women who accused him of pursuing sexual or romantic encounters with them when they were between the ages of 14 and 18. “The same thing happened to President Trump a few weeks before his election last year except it was several women making allegations,” Falwell told Religion News Service. “He denied that any of them were true, and the American people believed him and elected him the 45th president of the United States.”

“And I believe the judge is telling the truth,” Falwell said in a subsequent email to the Religion News Service in which he noted that Moore, a conservative judge, denied the accusations.

Falwell endorsed Moore in the race to fill the Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions when he was picked to serve as attorney general.

Four women told the Washington Post that Moore pursued romantic relations with them when he was in his 30s. The women were between the ages of 14 and 18 at the time.

One woman, Leigh Corfman, said she met Moore when she was 14 and he was an assistant district attorney. During one encounter, Moore initiated sexual contact, though they did not have intercourse.

The three other women said Moore took them out on dates when they were between the ages of 16 and 18.

Moore has denied the accounts of his accusers and called the Washington Post’s story “intentional defamation.”