FILE – In this Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017, file photo, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., listens to remarks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington. McConnell said Sunday, Oct. 22, he’s willing to bring bipartisan health care legislation to the floor if President Donald Trump makes clear he supports it. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate’s top Republican said Monday that GOP candidate Roy Mooreshould quit his Alabama race amid allegations he had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl decades ago. Moore fired back that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is the one who should leave, saying he “has failed conservatives and must be replaced.”
The crossfire escalated a GOP civil war over Moore’s Senate candidacy in a Dec. 12 special election, which until last week was viewed as an inevitable Republican win in the deep-red state. The Washington Post reported that Moore was 32 when he is alleged to have initiated sexual contact with the 14-year-old and pursued romantic relationships with other teenage girls at around that time.
“I believe the women,” McConnell, R-Ky., said Monday in response to a question at an appearance in Louisville. And he said flatly that Moore should step aside for another GOP candidate.
When the Post’s story first broke Thursday, McConnell had said Moore should step aside if the allegations were true.
Shortly after McConnell made his remarks Monday, Moore tweeted his response.