I regret to inform you that perhaps the worst person in American politics, save for maybe Eric Schneiderman, is back in the spotlight. Roy Moore reportedly wants to run for Senate again because losing to the Democrat Doug Jones in an R+14 state once just wasn’t enough.
A vote for Moore in a GOP primary isn’t just a vote for another six years of a Democrat occupying a U.S. Senate seat from one of the reddest states in the union. It’s also a vote for an indefensible person, someone whose record disqualifies him from any position in public life.
Moore is most famous on the national stage for the multiple sexual misconduct allegations that surfaced leading up to his election against Jones. Given the media-manufactured hysteria over Joe Biden, whose worst crime is kissing someone’s head in public, and Brett Kavanaugh, who was burnt at the stake for a single uncorroborated allegation, it’s worth explaining why the Moore allegations are both: a) damning if true, and b) overwhelmingly likely to be true.
Leigh Corfman alleges that when she was 14 in 1979, the then-32-year-old assistant district attorney had two intimate encounters with her which would, according to the Washington Post, apparently constitute second degree sexual abuse under Alabama law. Two women confirm that Corfman told them that she was involved with an older man at the time, and one of them confirm that Corfman specifically named Moore. (For comparison, Kavanaugh’s accuser never named him until after his name appeared on a Supreme Court shortlist in 2012.) Corfman’s mother did not know about the encounters at the time, but she did confirm that Moore and her daughter had met and were alone together at least once.
Beverly Young Nelson, a Republican Trump supporter, accused Moore of attempting to rape her in a car when she was 16 years old. Nelson told her sister, who stood by her side as she presented the allegations in 2017, two years after the alleged incident.
At least one more woman, Wendy Miller, accused Moore of hitting on her while she was under the age of consent in Alabama. A handful of other women independently alleged having intimate relationships with Moore in their teens.
Plus multiple people allege that Moore was banned from the Gadsden Mall, his reported playground for picking up teen girls.
But even before the sexual misconduct allegations dropped, Moore already made known that he was a despicable person.
Moore repeatedly asserted that homosexuality, not just gay marriage or same-sex civil unions, but homosexual behavior itself should be illegal. He publicly stated that Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court case ruling that legalized same-sex marriage across the nation, was worse than Dred Scott v. Sandford, perhaps the single most evil, racist, and legally indefensible SCOTUS ruling in American history.
And Moore is not only homophobic, but probably racist, too. He allowed neo-Confederates to hold events at his foundation and has suggested that eliminating every amendment after the Tenth would “eliminate many problems.” Moore proudly promulgated the racist birther conspiracy theory and claimed that Muslims shouldn’t be allowed to join Congress (which isn’t technically racist, but you get the point).
Oh, and he was also forcibly removed from the Alabama Supreme Court. Twice. The first time was for refusing a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Judicial Building, and the second time was for defying Obergefell.
Literally no one needs to defend Roy Moore. Nor should they, and by any moral standard, nor can they.
[Read more: Roy Moore says he won’t listen to Trump telling him not to run]
