President Donald Trump declined to condemn Alabama Republican Roy Moore on Tuesday, calling Moore's Democratic opponent Doug Jones "soft on crime" and pointing out that Moore "totally denies" allegations that he pursued teenage girls while in his 30s and sexually assaulted a 14-year-old.

"He totally denies it. He says it didn't happen," Trump said of Moore, taking questions from reporters as he prepared to depart for Thanksgiving at his Florida estate. "And you know, you have to listen to him also."

Moore, who has twice been elected to and suspended from the Alabama supreme court, has been accused by nine women of making sexual advances toward them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. One of the women was just 14 when she says he pursued her, and another accused him of attempting to rape her . Moore's campaign has denied the allegations, claiming that the Republican Party and the "liberal media" have conspired to defeat him.

"He is in total denial. I do have to say, 40 years is a long time. He has run eight races and this has never come up," Trump said. "The women are Trump voters. Most of them are Trump voters. All you can do is you have to do what you have to do. He totally denies it."

He also disparaged Jones, an attorney who made his name by successfully prosecuting the remaining two Ku Klux Klan members behind the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, as "soft on crime."

"I can tell you one thing for sure. We don't need a liberal person in there, a Democrat, Jones," he said. "I've looked at his record, it's terrible on crime, it's terrible on the border, it's terrible on the military."

The president, who has been accused by more than a dozen women of sexual harassment or assault, ignored shouted questions about whether he believes Moore's accusers. The White House in October said it's official position was that the women who have accused Trump are lying .

Trump however, did say he was pleased that women have been coming forward to detail alleged sexual harassment by powerful men in Hollywood and politics, and added that he supports push for the public naming of members of Congress who have been involved in settlements on harassment claims.

"Women are very special," he said. "I think it's a very special time, a lot of things are coming out and I think that's good for our society and I think it's very, very good for women and I'm very happy… it's being exposed."

But he backed off his previous attack on Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., who was accused of forcibly kissing a woman and groping her while she was asleep in 2006, before he became a Senator.

"I don't want to speak for Al Franken," adding that he had only just heard about new allegations against Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. "[Franken is] going to have to speak for himself, I'd rather have him speak for himself."

The remarks are the president's first on the Alabama race since he largely ducked the question while traveling in Asia two weeks ago, just hours after the first allegations against Moore surfaced. White House aides initially said Moore should step aside if the allegations were true, and that keeping the seat in Republican hands was not worth electing someone credibly accused of child molestation. But this week, aides pivoted to a more supportive stance , saying the decision should be left up to the voters of Alabama.