A bombshell report that four women accused Senate candidate Roy Moore of groping, kissing and pursuing them as teens has prompted a fallout as his fellow Republicans gauge how to respond.
The report, published Thursday in the Washington Post, identifies women who claim Moore asked them on dates while while he served as an assistant district attorney in his home state of Alabama in the 1970s and 1980s. Moore, a firebrand and religious conservative, called the report “completely false,” blaming the Democratic Party.
Senate Republicans quickly distanced themselves. John McCain called the allegations “disqualifying.” John Cornyn, a Moore backer, described them as “deeply disturbing.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he “must step aside” if the allegations are true.
But the state auditor of Alabama’s home state rushed to Moore’s defense. And he invoked the mother of Jesus, Mary, and her husband, Joseph.
“There is nothing to see here,” Jim Ziegler told the Washington Examiner. “The allegations are that a man in his early 30s dated teenage girls. Even the Washington Post report says that he never had sexual intercourse with any of the girls and never attempted sexual intercourse.”
He later added: “Also take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus.”
Oh dear God, do these people have no shame? To compare groping a 14 year old CHILD to Mary and Joseph is simply obscene and yes, immoral. I don’t throw that word around lightly.
There are enough witnesses here to send Moore back home to ‘Bama with this tail between his legs, if he can even find it. His past behavior is unacceptable. Even accusations by one person, much less 4 should send a strong message to the Senate that Moore should not be seated in this august body of legislators.
Roy Moore has spent far too much time worrying about the morals of others and not enough time making sure his own behavior was up to snuff. The man doth protest too much, me thinks.
Roy Moore is unfit to hold any office. Roy Moore is king of the hypocrites.
The accusation (if true, and seems highly probable) is disqualifying from office and raises the huge specter of hypocrisy. Timing is suspect, sure, but doesn’t matter. Go now.
But as you note, the reactions… simply, utterly breathtaking. Scripture is silent on large stretches of the story and we could debate the details, veracity, etc. But in this comparison, Joseph is analogized to a man who broke the law of his state and allegedly sexually assaulted someone below the age of consent. The Bible story shows us a much different man, not an aggressor but one who accepted a wife into his home and family with an incredible claim. He didn’t break the law, he gave her protection of the law. And in the orthodox teaching of the Church for centuries, he did so chastely.
And then Sean Hannity ….