In the wake of the Washington Post‘s explosive report alleging Roy Moore’s sexual misconduct with teenagers, Republican senators on Thursday urged Moore to bow out of the Alabama Senate race “if” the claims were true. But amid the backlash, at least two commentators have come out with similar arguments in Moore’s defense: Alabama State Auditor Jim Ziegler and Breitbart editor Joel Pollak.
“There is nothing to see here,” Ziegler told the Washington Examiner. “The allegations are that a man in his early 30s dated teenage girls. Even the Washington Post report says that he never had sexual intercourse with any of the girls and never attempted sexual intercourse.”
He then cited the age differences between Biblical characters to shore up his defense. “Take the Bible. Zachariah and Elizabeth for instance,” Ziegler said. “Zachariah was extremely old to marry Elizabeth and they became the parents of John the Baptist. Also take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus.”
In the Bible, God is Jesus’ father and Mary is his mother. Joseph, however, was present for Jesus’ birth.
Appearing on MSNBC, Pollak took specific issue with how the story included women who allege Moore initiated relationships with them when they were 16 or 18 years old. “The 16-year-old and 18-year-old have no business in that story, because those are women of legal age of consent at the time the relationship was,” Pollak said.
He stressed that the account of one woman who says Moore sexually assaulted her when she was just 14 is just an allegation.
Breitbart Editor: "There's only one relationship alleged that was problematic." pic.twitter.com/ZK8EV0Y3vn
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) November 9, 2017
Alabama law prohibits candidates from withdrawing within 74 days of an election. With the special election scheduled for December 12, Moore’s name will remain on the ballot even if he does decide to drop out.
