Roy Moore's brother to correspondent: He's being persecuted like Jesus
Roy Moore's younger brother said the Alabama GOP Senate candidate is being persecuted like Jesus, and the women accusing him will have to answer to God for what he called false accusations, a TV correspondent who spoke with Jerry Moore told CNN on Friday.
Savidge told CNN the younger Moore made the comments to him in Moore's hometown, after The Washington Post reported Thursday and CBS News confirmed that a woman accused Roy Moore of a sexual encounter when she was 14 and he was 32. Three other women, who were 16, 17 and 19 at the time, also said Moore pursued them when he was in his 30s. The allegations one month ahead of Alabama's special election have a number of Republicans urging Moore to step aside if the allegations have any truth to them. But back in Alabama, a number of local GOP officials are defending him.
Savidge described his conversation with Moore's younger brother to CNN on Friday morning. Here is what Savidge said:
"Spoke to him on the telephone," Savidge said. "And he is quite defiant. He is, obviously, in defense of his brother here. And there are a number of things. Let me go through the notes because I literally got off the phone with him. First of all, he says he knows, the brother knows, that the allegations against Roy Moore are not true, not true at all. He knows that deeply in his heart. He knows that deeply in his faith. He's very concerned about what the impact is going to be on their 91-year-old mother…They worry about her and her age and health."
"When I asked what does he believe the motivation is with these women coming forward making the accusations that they have, again, Jerry Moore says it's money and the Democratic party implying that they are doing this because they're being paid in some way and it is for the purpose of derailing or interrupting this campaign. He says it's because his brother has been leading so far in double digits, and he also says he knows that they are not telling the truth and these women are going to as he put it have to answer to God for these false allegations," Savidge continued.
"And he's also portrays that his brother is being persecuted in his own words like Jesus Christ was," Savidge added. "And he expects that the voters here and those that know Roy Moore are going to be outraged, outraged by the allegations, he said, no, outraged anyone would even think that Roy Moore would be capable of doing what he's been accused of by these women. Very defiant and very outspoken relying on his faith and defending his brother."
Moore was already an explosive character before The Washington Post story emerged Thursday, having been removed from the Alabama Supreme Court twice. Moore's alleged misconduct has drawn extra attention as the ultra-conservative candidate has denounced gay relationships and promoted the Bible from his government positions.
Moore's campaign has described the allegations as "garbage," although it hasn't disputed any of the particulars in the story except to accuse Democrats and the Washington Post of running a smear campaign.