McCain: Allegations against Moore ‘deeply disturbing and disqualifying’

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is calling on Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore to exit the race amid allegations of an inappropriate sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl in 1979.

“The allegations against Roy Moore are deeply disturbing and disqualifying,” McCain said in a statement. “He should immediately step aside and allow the people of Alabama to elect a candidate they can be proud of.”

In calling for Moore to step aside, McCain joined a growing number of Senate Republicans condemning the allegations against the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice.

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But unlike other GOP lawmakers, McCain was unconditional in his call for Moore to withdraw his candidacy in the Senate race. Other lawmakers, such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have said that Moore should step aside “if these allegations are true.”

A bombshell report in The Washington Post on Thursday detailed allegations that Moore sought sexual relationships with four women while he was in his 30s and they were teenagers.

One of the accusers, Leigh Corfman, alleged that she had sexual contact with Moore in 1979 when she was 14. 

Moore, 70, has been considered the likely winner of the special election to fill the Senate seat vacated earlier this year by Attorney General Sessions. He beat Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.), who was appointed to temporarily fill the seat, in a runoff election in September.