BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – On Thursday surrounded by supporters, former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore went on offense at an event titled #StandWithRoyMoore, with the media and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as his targets.
Moore attacked The Washington Post, an outlet that first highlighted allegations of sexual misconduct aimed at him. He insisted those accusations were false and declared that the Post was “certainly not evidence.”
“One thing I want to see happen in our country is unity,” Moore said. “I said I wanted to see unity. I never dreamed that I would succeed even before I got elected. But I have unified the Democrats and the Republicans in fighting against me because they don’t want me there. As you know, The Washington Post has brought some scurrilous false charges, not charges, allegations, which I have emphatically denied time and time again. They are not only untrue, but they have no evidence to support them.”
“Two of the speakers up here said words that I caught one said ‘unsubstantiated,’ and another said ‘unproven.’ Another said they were ‘fake,’” he continued. “All of that is true. And The Washington Post is certainly not evidence. What I want to do in this campaign is very simple is get back to the issues, which some are avoiding addressing. I haven’t had one question from the press or the media about issues in this case since these allegations have occurred. What is important is how we address the future of this country. And by cutting taxes, rebuilding our military, repealing Obamacare and putting good judges and justices on the federal and Supreme Court of the United States. We have to stop judiciary supremacy, or we are losing our form of government.”
Moore also criticized McConnell, who backed Moore’s primary opponent Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) in the two rounds of voting to determine who would get the GOP nod. Moore doubled down on a tweet posted by his campaign and said McConnell should be the one to step down.
“Many of you have recognized that this is an effort by Mitch McConnell and his cronies to still this election from the people of Alabama, and they will not stand for it,” Moore proclaimed. “They overcame $30 million and voted me in the primary. And now they are trying a different tactic. They even, well, the other day we got one big magazine that you all recognize if I say the name — I don’t want to say it, but they got a call that said asked me to step down from the campaign. Well, I want to tell you who needs to step down: That’s Mitch McConnell.”
https://twitter.com/MooreSenate/status/930128259035082756
Moore reiterated his commitment to “take a stand” and did not show any signs he might quit the race.
“There have been comments about me taking a stand,” he added. “Yes, I have taken a stand in the past. I’ll take a stand in the future. And I’ll quit standing when they lay me in that box and put me in the ground. I’m proud to stand with people that I see behind me and with people of Alabama to bring forth the truth to Washington D.C. — not just about what we stand for, but what the people of this country stand for, an acknowledgment of God, an acknowledgment of the Constitution and acknowledgment that we need moral value back in our country. And without God, we can never succeed.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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