Trump defends Roy Moore: 'He totally denies it'

President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended Roy Moore after weeks of avoiding the subject, saying that the Republican Senate candidate had denied allegations of sexual misconduct and that Alabama voters should not put a "liberal person" in the seat.

In his most extensive comments on the special-election race since several women accused Moore of pursuing them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s, Trump said the allegations involve years-old incidents.


"If you look at what is really going on and you look at all the things that have happened over the last 48 hours, he totally denies it," Trump said. "He says it didn't happen. And you know, you have to listen to him also."

After the allegations were first reported by The Washington Post, Trump released a statement saying that Moore should drop out of the race if the claims were true. The White House has since said Alabama voters, who go to the polls next month, should decide their next senator.

But on Tuesday, the president bashed Democrat Doug Jones' record, calling it "terrible on crime" and "bad" for the border and the military.

POLITICO Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

"I can tell you for a fact we do not need somebody that's going to be bad on crime, bad on borders, bad with the military, bad for the Second Amendment," Trump said to reporters.

"Forty years is a long time," Trump said. Moore "has run eight races and this has never come up."

Trump would not respond to questions about Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota and Michigan Rep. John Conyers, Democrats who are facing allegations of misconduct.

"As far as Franken is concerned, he's going to have to speak for himself," Trump said.

But he said the current deluge of allegations of sexual misbehavior against high-profile men is a "very special time" for women "because a lot of things are coming out."

"I think that's good for our society. And I think it's very, very good for women," he said. "And I'm very happy a lot of these things are coming out."

