The Alabama Republican Party is officially standing by their man.
The state party put out a statement defending Roy Moore on Thursday afternoon, attacking “the media and those from afar” for meddling in Alabama’s Senate election, and encouraging voters to back him in the Dec. 12 election.
That statement comes in spite of the growing list of women who have come forward to accuse him of inappropriate sexual acts, up to nine as of Thursday afternoon, and calls from national Republicans for Moore to drop out. The accusations include Moore asking multiple teen girls on dates, sexually assaulting one of them, having a sexual encounter with another when she was 14 years old to groping another woman without her permission.
“The ALGOP Steering Committee supports Judge Roy Moore as our nominee and trusts the voters as they make the ultimate decision in this crucial race,” Alabama Republican Party Chair Terry Lathan said in a statement. “Judge Moore has vehemently denied the allegations made against him. He deserves to be presumed innocent of the accusations unless proven otherwise. He will continue to take his case straight to the people of Alabama.”
As TPM reported Thursday morning, the state party decided in a Wednesday night meeting to stand by Moore rather than disqualify his nomination. But the statement defending Moore is a step further than some state Republicans expected — especially following heavy criticism from the national party and demands that Moore drops out from lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who opposed Moore in the primary.
Moore has steadfastly refused to drop out of the race, and has some close allies on the state party committee. While some others on the 21-person committee want him gone, many are afraid of Moore’s rabid base, as some are running for office in the state and face primaries.
“This is an effort by Mitch McConnell and his cronies to steal this election from the people of Alabama and they will not stand for it,” he said at a Thursday rally before refusing to answer reporters’ questions about whether he’d dated any teenage girls when he was in his 30s, or whether he’d inappropriately touched any of them.
According to Buzzfeed, his supporters aggressively yelled at reporters after the event for daring to ask Moore questions.
Here’s Latham’s full statement:
“The ALGOP Steering Committee supports Judge Roy Moore as our nominee and trusts the voters as they make the ultimate decision in this crucial race.”
“Judge Moore has vehemently denied the allegations made against him. He deserves to be presumed innocent of the accusations unless proven otherwise. He will continue to take his case straight to the people of Alabama.”
“There is a sharp policy contrast between Judge Moore, a conservative Republican who supports President Trump, and the liberal Democrat who will fight and thwart the agenda of our president. We trust the Alabama voters in this election to have our beloved state and nation’s best interest at heart.
“Alabamians will be the ultimate jury in this election- not the media or those from afar.”
“We are very grateful for the multitudes that have reached out to us with support and prayers. We ask God to guide us, politically and personally, with His mighty strength and wisdom. In turn, we also pray that justice and truth will prevail for all involved in this situation.”
