Republican Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) said in a Sunday television interview that Alabama Senate nominee Roy Moore’s (R) denial of the sexual misconduct allegations levied against him was not as strong as the accusations unveiled last week.
“The denial was not as strong as the allegations,” Scott told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
{mosads}Scott noted that the accusations reported last week by The Washington Post were “very, very strong” and that Moore should leave the race if the accusations are true.
Moore and his campaign have strongly denied one of the allegations in the report, that he had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl in 1979, when he was 32.
The Washington Post also included in its article accounts from three other women who said Moore attempted to court them around the same time, when they were between 16 and 18 years old. Moore denied that there was inappropriate conduct in those cases and said although he did not specifically remember dating girls in their later teens, it could have happened.
Moore’s campaign has argued the attack is politically motivated, questioning the timing of the story, which comes just weeks before the Dec. 12 special election.
Moore is the Republican nominee in the election for the Senate seat once held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Numerous Republican lawmakers have said Moore should step aside from the race if the allegations are true. Three GOP senators have removed their endorsements since the allegations came out.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee last week ended its relationship with the joint fundraising committee raising money for Moore.