Moore’s team ready for ‘fight to the death’

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Republican Roy Moore’s campaign on Thursday lashed out at the women accusing him of sexual misconduct, declaring “let the battle begin.” Women’s advocates decried the talk as worn intimidation tactics designed to keep his Senate bid alive.

Moore ignored calls from Washington Republicans concerned that he may not only lose a seat they were sure to win but do significant damage to the party’s brand among women.

Moore’s team showed no such concerns.

“You ask me if I believe the girls. No, I don’t believe the girls. I believe Judge Moore,” Moore chief strategist Dean Young said. “Let the battle begin ... Get ready to fight, Mitch McConnell. We’re going to fight you to the death on this.”

President Donald Trump, through a spokeswoman, called the allegations against Moore “very troubling” but did not call on him to quit the race.

“He thinks that the people of Alabama should make the decision on who their next senator should be,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.

In Alabama, Moore appeared alongside more than a dozen religious leaders, who took turns bashing the Christian conservative’s many critics.

“This is a man who does not lie. Compare that to his accusers,” said Gordon Klingenschmitt of the group Pray in Jesus’ Name.

Klingenschmitt quoted the Ten Commandments in a message aimed at two women he called out by name — one has said she was 14 and the other that she was 16 when Moore initiated sexual contact as a district attorney in his 30s.

“Thou shalt not bear false witness,” he declared.

Moore, who didn’t answer reporters’ questions, called the allegations “unsubstantiated,” ‘’unproven” and “fake.”

The Alabama Republican Party reiterated its support for Moore, but the National Organization For Women condemned the attacks against accusers, suggesting the tactics explain why many victims of sexual harassment don’t go public.