Moore told Hannity that “that would be out of my customary behavior.” The radio host then tried another angle: “In other words, you don’t recall dating any girl that young when you were that old?”

“I’ve said no,” Moore parried. Pressed on whether such a relationship would be “inappropriate,” the candidate said he agreed it would be.

After the interview, two of Moore’s would-be colleagues quickly withdrew their support for his candidacy. They followed earlier calls for Moore to step down, which came after the Post published its report Thursday. The story included allegations that Moore, a former state Supreme Court justice, had a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl nearly 40 years ago.

Early Friday evening, Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah wrote on Twitter that “having read the detailed description of the incidents, as well as the response from Judge Moore and his campaign,” he could “no longer endorse his candidacy for the US Senate.” Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana tweeted succinctly that he would be “pulling my endorsement and support for Roy Moore for U.S. Senate.”

By contrast, some Republicans made statements in Moore’s defense following the Post story: Some of his political supporters called the allegations totally false, while others claimed the women accusing him were in cahoots with the Democratic Party. A few went even further, excusing the alleged behavior.

“Take Mary and Joseph. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus,” Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler told the Washington Examiner. “There’s just nothing immoral or illegal here. Maybe just a little bit unusual.”

The Post reported that Moore allegedly had an inappropriate sexual encounter with Leigh Corfman in 1979, when she was 14 and he was 32, and that he pursued relationships with three other teenage women. Corfman alleged that Moore kissed her, touched her through her bra and underpants, and guided her hand to his underwear. The age of consent in Alabama was—and still is—16 years old. The other three women in the story allege that Moore dated them briefly when they were between the ages of 16 and 18, but that they were not forced into sexual contact.

Moore denied the claims, calling the story a “completely false and desperate political attack.” On Twitter, he wrote that “the Obama-Clinton Machine’s liberal media lapdogs just launched the most vicious and nasty round of attacks” he’s ever faced. A statement from Moore’s campaign called the report a “last ditch Hail Mary” by Democrats supporting his opponent, Doug Jones.

Moore, who is an evangelical Christian, was removed from the bench in 2003 over his refusal to take down a monument to the Ten Commandments in the state Supreme Court building in Alabama. Last year, he was suspended for the remainder of his term after telling probate judges to enforce the ban on gay marriage, which by then had been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. Both fights elevated his profile among religious conservatives in the state and nationally.