Roy Moore: ‘Mitch McConnell and his cronies’ are trying to steal the Alabama election

“This is an effort by Mitch McConnell and his cronies to steal this election from the people of Alabama,” Moore said while addressing supporters on Thursday.

The former state supreme court judge has continued to deny allegations that he pursued romantic relationships with women as young as 14 while he was in his 30s.

But women have continued to emerge with stories of inappropriate behavior ranging from lewd comments to sexual assault. Republicans at all levels of the party have rushed to sever ties with Moore during the scandal, which first emerged in a report from the Washington Post that cited the accounts of four women.

Moore called the Post report “false.”

“As you know, the Washington Post has brought some scurrilous, false charges — not charges, allegations — which I have emphatically denied time and time again,” Moore said on Thursday. “They’re not only untrue, but they have no evidence to support them.”

“The Washington Post is certainly not evidence,” Moore added.

McConnell had supported Moore’s opponent, Sen. Luther Strange, in the GOP primary earlier this year. Steve Bannon, President Trump’s former chief strategist, threw his support behind Moore in a primary run-off that pitted Bannon against Trump, who campaigned for Strange.

Most Republicans have called for Moore to drop out of the race as a result of the allegations.

Moore, however, has remained defiant in the face of the mushrooming scandal, telling supporters this week he has no intention of leaving the race ahead of the Dec. 12 election. He predicted Thursday he would soon become a U.S. senator, and joked that he has already helped to unify Washington.

“I said I wanted to see unity. I never dreamed that I would succeed even before I got elected,” Moore said. “But I have unified the Democrats and the Republicans in fighting against me, because they don’t want me there.”