Politics

Moore: Allegations ‘Hurt Me Personally’

. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan

Amber Athey Podcast Columnist
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Judge Roy Moore said Friday that while he did date “a number of young ladies” when he returned from the military, he would have never had contact with a 14 year old.

In The Washington Post on Thursday, Leigh Corfman accused Moore, a Republican running for Senate in Alabama, of kissing and groping her when she was just 14 and he was 32.

“These allegations are completely false and misleading but more than that it hurts me personally, you know– I’m a father,” Moore said in an interview with Sean Hannity.

Moore said his role as a father and grandfather makes him extra protective of young women.

“I dont know Ms. Corfman from anybody, I’ve never talked to her, never met with her…I believe they are politically motivated and are brought to stop a very successful campaign,” he asserted. “It involves a 14-year-old girl which I would have never had contact with.”

Moore said that he did recognize some of the women’s names in the Washington Post report but could not remember if he had ever gone on dates with him. Other women between the ages of 17 and 18 said they had contact with Moore that involved multiple dates but never went beyond kissing. A 16 year old said Moore invited her on a date but her mother refused.

“You understand this is 40 years ago and after the military, and I dated a number of young ladies,” Moore said of the possibility of going on dates with other young women.

Moore also denied that he would give alcohol to someone who was under the legal drinking age and said one of the women must have been 19, rather than 18.

“No because in this county its a dry county, we would have never had liquor,” he said. “As I recall she was 19, I would have never given liquor to an underage minor as thats against the law.”

When asked if Moore would normally go out with 17 year olds when he was in his thirties, Moore replied, “Not generally, no.”

Moore explained that he rejects calls for him to recuse himself from the Senate race because he “had nothing to do with this.”

“If you’re gonna step aside when you get a allegation you might as well not run because when you run you’re gonna get an allegation,” Moore declared.

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