Republican Roy Moore continued on Wednesday to deny any knowledge of the accusers who have claimed in recent weeks that the former judge behaved inappropriately and molested teenage girls decades ago.
Speaking inside a nearly 150-year-old church in south Mobile County, Moore also accused one of the nine women who have come forward of having an agenda to stop his political career.
“The attacks have been false, numerous and vicious,” Moore said during a 22-minute speech interrupted twice by protestors, one who was anti-Moore and another who was a Moore supporter. The speech occurred less than two weeks before the Dec. 12 Senate special election pitting Moore against Democrat Doug Jones.
“I do not know any of these women,” Moore said. “I did not engage in sexual misconduct. It’s simply dirty politics. It’s a sign of our times.”
Moore referenced a report from the conservative One America News Network which criticized one of the accusers of having alleged family ties to drug dealers, and called the scandal that has threatened his political career as a “conspiracy.”
Moore’s continued denial of knowledge about any of the accusers also came one day after Leigh Corfman — the accuser who claims Moore touched her sexually when she was 14 and he was 32 — hand-delivered a letter to AL.com insisting that he stop calling her a liar.
“It may seem odd that having served the public in the state of Alabama for 40 years and counting my service in the Army, 50 years going back to West Point, never once has anyone stated anything that has (been alleged),” Moore said.
Clash of “protesters”
Moore’s speech was interrupted twice, once by a man who questioned why the former judge and his supporters did not believe any of the allegations raised in media reports. “The entire time, all the girls are lying?” the man shouted.
A bizarre back-and-forth ensued as the police escorted the man out of the Magnolia Springs Baptist Church.
A pro-Moore supporter then shouted that the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice is a “man’s man. Does that look like the face of a molester?”
It was later identified that the pro-Moore supporter is the comedian Tony Barbieri, who is famous for his appearances as the character Jake Byrd on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Before the speech, Barbieri repeatedly interrupted individual interviews a TV crew was conducting with Moore supporters as they walked into the church.
Barbieri was later asked to leave after he stood up and shouted, “Does that look like someone who hits on teenage girls?”
Turns out tonight’s Roy Moore superfan is a comedian named Tony Barbieri, part of Jimmy Kimmel’s gang. pic.twitter.com/ykeGKVDdkS
— Ben H. Raines (@BenHRaines) November 30, 2017
Later, outside the church, a confrontation occurred between Theodore resident David Connolly, who attended the speech and accused the church of hosting a political rally while billing it as a religious service.
“I believe in giving everyone a chance to speak,” Connolly said while he was interviewed by a large throng of television media. “I heard what the man had to say and he uses Bible verses to twist in any way he can. This is embarrassing to Alabama and embarrassing to me.”
Moore supporters, who stood by and listened to Connolly, yelled back at him and accused him of being a plant for the Jones campaign. “How much are you getting paid?” one Moore supporter yelled.
Connolly replied, “Is that a serious question? Would you like to follow me home, sir? I don’t know of anyone who would pay for me to talk tonight.”
Protests aside, Moore’s supporters embraced the former judge’s opportunity to speak at the church. To them, Moore is the victim of a dirty politics, and they also question why the allegations made against him have surfaced weeks before the general election.
“Politics has just gotten ugly,” said Michael Griffon. “It’s always been ugly, but when it hits you this hard in the face, it’s just really seems very ugly to me.”
Lou Campomenosi, who heads up the Baldwin County Common Sense Campaign, said the tea party supporters with his group believe “this is part and parcel to the politics of personal destruction.”
“We are not going to say we believe these allegations, and they are allegations,” said Campomenosi. “It’s very unfair to drop these kind of things a very short time before an election. It’s not fair to Judge Moore. It’s not fair to the electorate. I think this is just a very real conspiracy to destroy a man … these people don’t like. Not just the liberal Democrats, but Mitch McConnell and the RINO swamp.”
Focus on issues
Moore, much like his appearance Monday in DeKalb County, outlined the sharp contrasts on issues between himself and Jones. He said he supports a complete overturn of the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court legalizing abortions, opposes transgender troops serving in the military and defunding Planned Parenthood.
“I would first overturn Roe v. Wade,” Moore said. “It’s an unconstitutional decision. There is no such thing as established precedent.”
In addition, he said federal judges “who put themselves above the Constitution should be impeached.”
Moore’s visit to Mobile County comes as his campaign has rebounded since the Nov. 9 Washington Post article was first published detailing the initial allegations against him.
He has pulled ahead of Jones in recent polling. A RealClearPolitics average of six recent polls in the Senate race shows Moore with a two-point advantage over Jones, after Jones had taken a brief lead last week.
Moore supporters inside the Magnolia Springs Baptist Church in Theodore, said they felt confident in the ex-judge’s campaign, and felt he would win the Senate election.
“I think he’s going to make it,” said Clyde Clark, a resident of rural Irvington.
Bannon coming
The Moore campaign also announced that former White House chief strategist and current Brietbart News executive chairman Stephen Bannon will join the former judge during a Dec. 5 rally in Fairhope. The two will appear on the same stage they shared during a pre-runoff rally in September days before Moore defeated Senator Luther Strange.
Dean Young, a campaign strategist for Moore, encouraged supporters to attend next week’s rally at Oak Hollow Farm – about an hour’s drive from the Theodore church – to “show the world” that “we stand for Judge Moore.”
Richard Fording, a political science professor at the University of Alabama, said the Bannon appearance is meant to keep the conservative GOP base “mobilized for the future” with the 2018 midterm elections coming up.
Bannon, since he left the White House in August, has signaled he plans to campaign to unseat establishment candidates and have them replaced with insurgents who are loyal to President Donald Trump’s nationalist agenda.
“For (Bannon), it’s all about the policy and short of a conviction in court, he’s going to be supporting candidates who are board with him,” Fording said. “If Roy Moore wins, there is a good chance he will be greatly indebted to Steve Bannon. There is a lot of upside for Bannon.”