Moore pushes back against allegations
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump kept uncharacteristically silent and out of the fight Wednesday as national Republicans called ever more insistently for Roy Moore to abandon his Alabama campaign for the U.S. Senate and party officials sourly debated options that noneof them liked.
Far from surrendering, Mr. Moore’s camp fought back against allegations of sexual impropriety with teenage girls years ago when he was in his 30s.
Mr. Trump, who withstood allegations of sexual assault weeks before his own election last year, ducked questions about the Alabama race and whether he would join GOP congressional leaders in urging Mr. Moore to step aside. With Mr. Moore’s would-be colleagues threatening to expel him should he win and the Republican National Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee pulling their support, Mr. Trump was seen as the best hope for pushing a fellow political rebel from the race.
Instead, Mr. Moore, twice removed from his post as state Supreme Court chief justice, confronted his party with two damaging potential election outcomes. His victory would saddle GOP senators with a colleague accused of abusing and harassing teenagers, a troubling liability heading into next year’s congressional elections, while a loss to Democrat Doug Jones would slice the already narrow GOP Senate majority to an unwieldy 51-49.
Behindthe scenes, aides described Mr. Trump as vexed by the issue. At any rate, he might make an uncomfortable critic: The allegations against the bombastic former judge echo Mr. Trump’s own political problems. National Republicans, including many of the same now abandoning Mr.Moore, withdrew their endorsements or halted their efforts on Mr. Trump’s behalf at thetime.
Republican allies of the administration expressed concern about Mr. Trump’s silence, warning that Mr. Moore will be in the news for weeks,as will the president’s refusal to weigh in.
Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity joined the GOP critics during his show Tuesday evening, saying he was giving Mr. Moore 24 hours to explain “inconsistencies” in his response to allegations of child molestation or else exit theAlabama race.
Showing no signs of surrender, Mr. Moore’s campaign chairman and personal attorney addressed the media in Alabama, trying to undercut the story of the latest woman to accuse Mr. Moore of sexually accosting her when she was in high school.