Failed U.S. Senate candidate and accused child molester Roy Moore dug in his heels on Wednesday evening with a new campaign video in which he blasts progressives, abortion, and the LGBTQ community while simultaneously refusing to concede to special election victor, Doug Jones.

“We are…in a struggle to preserve our republic, our civilization, and our religion, and to set free a suffering humanity,” Moore says. “The battle rages on. In this race, we have not received the final count to include military and provisional ballots. This has been a very close race, and we are awaiting certification by the [Alabama] secretary of state.”

Moore lost Tuesday’s election to rival Jones by a margin of 1.5 percentage points, or approximately 21,000 votes, according to Politico. So far, he has not called for a re-count, which he would arguably be required to pay for with his own funds (although Election Law Blog expert Rick Hasen writes that this may not be possible, as Moore was a federal election candidate).

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill has said he does not believe a re-count would change Tuesday’s results.

In the video, Moore also states that the special election to fill Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ vacant seat was especially important because the “heart and soul of our country is at stake.”

“Like most Americans, I’m concerned about the future of our country, both financially and morally,” he continues. “…Today, we no longer recognize the universal truth that God is the author of our life and liberty. Abortion, sodomy, and materialism have taken the place of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”


He adds that the country is on the decline because it banned prayer in schools, “redefined” marriage by allowing same-sex couples to wed, and have “begun to recognize the right of a man to claim to be a woman.”

At one point, Moore also references the slew of sexual misconduct accusations against him, claiming that “our political process has been affected with baseless and false allegations, which have become more relevant than the true issues which affect our country.”

At least eight women have come forward in recent weeks, accusing Moore of sexual misconduct. Several of the women claim they were teenagers when Moore, then in his 30s, first approached them. One woman says she was only 14 when Moore allegedly sexually abused her.

Moore has continually denied the allegations, despite evidence supporting his accusers’ stories.

Moore also claims in the video that the American dream has been “tainted by corrupt politics” and liberal judges.

“We have allowed judges and justices to rule over our Constitution, and we have become slaves to their tyranny,” he says. “Immorality sweeps over our land.”


Moore, a former judge who once stated that the last time the United States was great was during the slavery era, has been criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike over the years for his own stubborn refusal to abide by the rule of law and for issuing policy from the bench. In 2001, Moore — then chief justice of Alabama — defied an order from a federal U.S. District judge to remove a 5,280-pound granite monument of the Ten Commandments from Alabama Supreme Court grounds. He was later removed from office by the state’s judicial ethics commission over the matter.

After returning to the bench in 2012, Moore once again defied a federal court order, instructing Alabama’s lower court judges to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples in the wake of the historic Obergefell v. Hodges ruling. On May 6, 2016, Moore was suspended from the bench. He resigned in April 2017, announcing he would be running for Senate instead.

In an interview with NBC’s TODAY on Thursday, Senate campaign rival Jones advised Moore that it was time to accept the results of Tuesday’s special election and move on.

“I understand the frustration a little bit. It is a close race. But I’d say, look, it’s time to move on,” he said. “…Every race is tough. It’s bitter sometimes. I think this one was one that people of Alabama have now spoken a little bit, and they decided to heal. …I think he would do well to just go ahead, let’s get this behind us, so the people of Alabama can get someone in there and start working for them.”