Trump supports Moore on sexual misconduct: ‘He denies it’

US President Donald Trump discounted accusations of sexual misconduct against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, telling voters not to support his “liberal” rival.

Trump spoke to reporters Tuesday at the White House before leaving for a Thanksgiving break at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

“We don’t need a liberal person in there,” the US president said of the Alabama race.

Six women have accused the Republican Moore of pursuing romantic relationships with them when they were teenagers and he was an assistant district attorney in his 30s. Two have accused him of assault or molestation. Moore has denied the allegations.

Of the accusations, Trump said that Moore “denies it.”

Moore has denied allegations of sexual misconduct. Nevertheless, his victory in the December 12 special election would saddle GOP senators with a colleague accused of abusing and harassing teenagers, a troubling liability heading into the 2018 congressional elections.

Republicans hold a 52-48 edge in the Senate, and the narrow majority has already made it difficult for Republicans to push through its agenda. Moore’s name cannot be removed from the ballot even if he withdraws from the race, though a write-in campaign remains possible.

‘It took years to regain a sense of confidence’

On Monday, a woman accusing Moore of initiating sexual contact when she was 14 said she wanted to confront him years ago but didn’t because he was powerful and the encounter gutted her self-confidence. She said she came forward to tell her story only after other women agreed to.

The declaration by Leigh Corfman comes after Moore’s supporters claimed without evidence that reporters were offering thousands of dollars to women for accusations. The state election is being closely watched, as several GOP senators have called Moore to drop out.

Corfman said she was “absolutely not” paid to tell her story publicly.

“My bank account has not flourished,” Corfman told NBC’s “Today” show. “If anything it’s gone down because I’m not working.”

Corfman said Moore’s stature in Alabama — he was a noted attorney who went on to become a powerful judge — prevented her from coming forward years ago. But, she says, she did confide in close friends immediately after the incident and told family members later as an adult.

“It took years for me to regain a sense of confidence in myself, and I felt guilty. I felt like I was the one to blame. It was decades before I was able to let that go.”

In the NBC interview, Corfman described an encounter with Moore in which he pursued her while he was assistant district attorney in the 1970s. She says Moore took her to his house, where he spread out blankets on his living room, removed their clothing and touched her. She said she told him she wasn’t comfortable, and he eventually agreed to take her home.

“I was a 14-year-old child trying to play in an adult’s world, and he was 32 years old,” Corfman said.

Corfman said she confided in those close to her, including her children years later when they became teens. She said she decided against going public with her accusations at various times in the past three decades because she was afraid that her kids would be shunned in Alabama, where Moore was rising in prominence as a local judge.

“When you’re in that situation, you do everything you can to protect your own,” she said.

Corfman says she agreed to share details only after The Washington Post sought her out and gave her assurances she wasn’t the only one accusing Moore of misconduct. Multiple women have accused Moore of pursuing them as teenagers, including one who has detailed a sexual assault encounter in a car.