Fox News host Sean Hannity made the case for the people of Alabama to be given adequate time to “know the truth” before going to the polls for the vacant U.S. Senate seat being sought after by the embattled Roy Moore.
Moore, a longtime judge in Alabama, won the Republican nomination in September, but now faces a damaging controversy involving an ever-rising number of allegations that in decades past he sought younger women in their teens for sexual or romantic relationships. Some of the accusations, the number of which grew to nine by Wednesday evening, include sexual assault.
Moore, who denies any wrongdoing and has resisted pressure from top members of his own party to drop out of the contest, was in direct contact with Hannity via letter after the prominent conservative figure issued a 24-hour ultimatum demanding answers surrounding the mounting allegations of sexual misconduct.
“We’ve demanded rightly answers from Judge Moore. He provided them to the specific questions we asked,” Hannity said at the end of his evening Fox News program on Wednesday. “In my opinion — so serious, the people of Alabama — they need to know the truth, and they’ve got to have all the facts that they need.”
He went on to say that might mean pushing back the election, set for Dec. 12, which he noted Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett said could be possible.
“That means that the Alabama voters can make an educated, informed, inclusive decision for their state when they go to the polls,” Hannity continued. “And if that means — whatever it means to get to the truth, if it means more time, I believe the governor according to Gregg Jarrett has the ability to make that decision. The Alabama people deserve that. Gregg Jarrett said the governor can delay the race if need be.”
Hannity says Judge Moore answered his questions under the 24 hour deadline. So good to go. pic.twitter.com/0JqR2eDapm
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) November 16, 2017
Delaying the race, if possible, might be the only thing Republicans can do if they hope to salvage the race amid Moore’s sagging poll numbers. Alabama law states Moore can’t be replaced on the ballot for the contest.
Some Republicans have also floated write-in efforts, including one for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reclaim his old seat.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is one such lawmaker opposing Moore, and according to a Politico report on Wednesday, McConnell and his team are looking at whether it would be possible to, if Moore were to resign, trigger a new special election contest.
