A reporter defending Roy Moore appeared to compare the sexual misconduct allegations against the GOP Senate candidate to stealing a lawnmower.
A reporter defending Roy Moore appeared to compare the sexual misconduct allegations against the GOP Senate candidate to stealing a lawnmower.
During an interview on CNN, Brandon Moseley, a reporter at Alabama Political Reporter, said he’s known Moore for 20 years and has covered his campaigns.
“I think if this was a serious– if these allegations were out there and they were serious, I probably would have heard them,” he said.
“But understanding that most people have not actually met Roy and don’t know him personally, we’re still talking about 38 years ago, we’re talking about something that’s past the statute of limitations.”
When pressed on why he doesn’t think the allegations are serious, Moseley said they are 38 years old, adding: “This would be a misdemeanor at the time under the code of Alabama.”
“If you go back and you don’t elect anyone who has ever done anything wrong we wouldn’t have had Barack Obama Barack Hussein ObamaOvernight Cybersecurity: What we learned from Carter Page’s House Intel testimony| House to mark up foreign intel reform law| FBI can’t access Texas shooter’s phone| Sessions to testify at hearing amid Russia scrutiny Russian social media is the modern-day Trojan horse Trump records robo-call for Gillespie: He’ll help ‘make America great again’ MORE,” he said. “I think he did cocaine. Bill Clinton Bill ClintonTop Oversight Dem pushes back on Uranium One probe Bill Clinton hits Trump, tax reform plan in Georgetown speech The Hill’s 12:30 Report MORE supposedly smoked marijuana.”
“You acknowledge sexual contact with a 14-year-old would have been illegal and would be considered sexual abuse by the books today… You make this argument that there wasn’t a law against sexual abuse in Alabama back in the 70s,” she said.
“Are you saying that because there wouldn’t have been a law, according to you, that would have made it okay back then?” she asked.
“If Roy Moore committed a sin, that’s a sin and that’s not good, but we’re not talking about an actual crime here under—that’s prosecutable in 2017,” he said.
“I don’t think you throw out 35 years of a man’s career and his reputation because of an unsubstantiated allegation from 1979.”
Baldwin reiterated the woman who accused Moore of sexual misconduct was 14 years old at the time she said the incident took place.
She said CNN found that “this was on the books, going back to 77, and would have been considered sexual abuse in the second degree.”
“Which is a misdemeanor in Alabama,” he said.
“Does that make it OK?” Baldwin asked.
“No, but again, if, you know, Roy Moore had stolen a lawn mower when he was 21 that’s bad, but that’s not a reason, 50 years later, to all of a sudden, you know, throw him off the ballot or let Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellMcConnell expects Paul to return to Senate next week Former Hill staff calls for mandatory harassment training Gaming the odds of any GOP tax bill getting signed into law MORE pick the next senator of Alabama,” Moseley said.
“Sexual abuse, stealing a lawn mower,” Baldwin said in response. “Let’s not even go there.”
The comments come after a woman accused Moore of initiating a sexual encounter with her in 1979 when she was 14 and he was 32.
Another woman on Monday came forward with sexual misconduct allegations against Moore, accusing him of grabbing her when she was a minor in a restaurant parking lot while she struggled to get away from him.
Moore is facing growing calls from Republicans for him to step aside in the Alabama Senate race. He has denied the allegations and has said he plans to remain in the race.
