Alabama Senate nominee Roy Moore has been steadily hemorrhaging support since a bombshell report last week accused him of inappropriate sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl while he was in his thirties. On Monday, another woman, Beverly Young Nelson, stepped forward to accuse Moore of sexually assaulting her when she was 16.
Now, Sean Hannity is demanding answers.
On Tuesday, Hannity said “the judge has 24 hours” to explain his “inconsistencies,” citing specifically that Moore denied knowing Nelson despite having signed her yearbook.
“You must immediately and fully come up with a satisfactory explanation for your inconsistencies,” Hannity demanded. “You must remove any doubt. If he can’t do this, then Judge Moore needs to get out of this race.”
A report in The Daily Beast on Tuesday said Steve Bannon “has begun privately taking the temperature of those in his inner circle to see what they think of the Moore allegations and to get their sense of how to proceed.” Though not convinced the allegations are true, the report stated Bannon is “uncomfortable with the charges of sexual harassment and child molestation,” Moore is facing.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson appeared to back off a previously glowing endorsement for Moore this week as well, saying in a statement provided to Axios by a spokesman that he “believes any man that assaults any woman is unfit for public office.”
This apparent movement is significant because Moore seems to have largely retained the support of President Trump’s ardent base, with which Hannity and Bannon carry serious leverage. If he loses their support in the days to come, the pressure on him to step down will be immense.
