House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday said the allegations of sexual misconduct against Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore “are credible” and he “should step aside.”
“He should step aside. No. 1, these allegations are credible. No. 2, if he cares about the values and people he claims to care about, then he should step aside,” the Wisconsin Republican told reporters.
Senate Republicans, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have called for Moore to drop out of the race after the allegations began surfacing last week.
A 53-year-old woman told the Washington Post in a report published last Thursday that Moore had sexual contact with her in 1979 when she was 14 and Moore was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney in Alabama.
Another three women told the newspaper that Moore attempted to engage in relationships with them when they were between the ages of 14 and 18.
On Monday, Beverly Young Nelson said Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 16 and he was around 30 after he offered her a ride home from her waitress job in 1977.
Moore, 70, is running in a special election against Democrat Doug Jones to fill the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions after he was appointed US attorney general.
Moore has denied the allegations and has no intention of pulling out of the race.
The election is on Dec. 12.
With Post wires