President endorses senate hopeful mired in sex claims

THE White House has given its biggest endorsement yet to Roy Moore, as the Republican party establishment rallied around the senate candidate despite accusations over sexual misconduct with children.

With a week to go before voting for the senate seat, President Donald Trump tweeted “we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama”.

Mitch Mcconnell, the Republican leader in the senate, also rowed back on past criticism by saying “the people of Alabama” should decide the race.

Mr Moore, the firebrand Republican, has faced numerous allegations of inappropriate sexual contact with teenage girls, some as young as 14.

He has denied all the claims and said he is the victim of a witch hunt.

With the senate tightly balanced at 52 Republicans to 48 Democrats or independents, the outcome of the Alabama race has significant consequences for national politics. Polls suggest that the race has tightened since the allegations emerged, with Mr Moore now in danger of losing the seat despite Alabama traditionally being ultra-safe Republican territory.

Mr Trump yesterday tweeted: “Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive tax cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama.” Mr Moore later claimed that Mr Trump telephoned to offer his support, suggesting in a tweet that the president had told him: “Go get ’em, Roy!”

He said: “Just got off the phone with president Trump who offered his full support and said he needs a fighter to help him in the US Senate.”

James Levine, the renowned conductor, has been suspended by New York’s Metropolitan Opera amid claims that he assaulted a teenage boy over a number of years. The move to suspend Mr Levine comes a day after a US newspaper revealed details of a 2016 police investigation into the historical allegations. Since then, two more men have come forward with similar accounts.