Judge Roy Moore appeared on Sean Hannity’s radio show on Friday to address the allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. The Alabama Senate candidate asserted that the stories are completely false, and that he has evidence of “collusion” between the victims who have come forward, but that he’s not ready yet to take that information public.
On Hannity’s show on November 10, Judge Roy Moore answered questions about the matter, first asserting that the allegations by two of the women who have come forward are not inappropriate or illegal. The Washington Post report included allegations from one woman, Debbie Wesson Gibson, who says that she was 17 when Moore spoke to her high school civics class and asked her out on dates. The sexual activity, she says, did not progress beyond kissing. Another accuser, Gloria Thacker Deason, was 18 at the time of her interaction with Moore, and says he gave her alcohol while she was underage. Moore is alleged to have been in his 30s during both of these relationships.
Setting aside the two accusers who say they were approached at age 14, Judge Roy Moore told Hannity that the other two allegations don’t even include any wrongdoing, and that the behavior described is not illegal and didn’t include sexually immoral behavior.
Hannity asked whether these stories, even if appropriate, are also false, specifically asking whether Moore recalled dating a girl in her teens when he was in his 30s. Moore responded, saying that would be outside his normal behavior. When pressed to answer whether he recalled such a relationship, Moore declared firmly, “I’ve said no.”
However, at another point in the show, Moore was asked if he had ever dated a 16-year-old and said, “I don’t dispute that,” clarifying that he didn’t remember ever dating a young girl without her mother’s permission. He emphasized that two of the women accusing him say in their allegations that their mothers encouraged the relationships, thinking he would be a good match.
In fact, Moore’s own wife is 14 years younger than him, according to Heavy , though notably she was 24, not 16 or even 18 at the time of their marriage, only six years after Moore is alleged to have pursued 14-year-old Leigh Corfman.
Judge Roy Moore repeatedly told Hannity that the allegations were an attack by people who didn’t want to hear about God and who wanted to allow transgender people to join the military and access public bathrooms. At one point, he announced,
“There is some evidence of collusion.”
He went on to say that he isn’t ready to take the evidence public yet, but believes it will show that the accusations are simply an attack on him by political opponents. The Washington Post checked campaign records and found no contributions from any of Moore’s accusers to any of his opponents, and at least one accuser, Corfman, says she has voted for Republican candidates in the past three elections and supported Donald Trump in 2016.
Roy Moore tweeted Thursday, saying the same — accusing the “Obama-Clinton machine,” “liberal media lapdogs,” and “the forces of evil” for attacking him, and calling this a “spiritual battle.
Hannity himself has been under fire for his defense of Judge Roy Moore, in which he spoke of consensual relationships. Tweeting Thursday evening, Hannity apologized for being unclear, indicating that he was only using “consensual” as a descriptor for Judge Roy Moore’s alleged relationships with the 17- and 18-year-old women, not the 14- and 16-year-old accusers. He added that the “lazy media” takes such comments out of context.
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