Overview

Roy Moore Sexual Misconduct Allegations refer to a series of allegations made against Alabama assistant district attorney Roy Moore regarding a pursued sexual relationship with a 14-year-old female in 1979, as well as three other women between the ages of 16 and 18, while Moore was in his 30s. The allegations created a wave of controversy as public officials, media outlets and citizens comments on Moore's behavior.

Background

On November 9th, 2017, The Washington Post^[1] published a report alleging that Alabama Assistant District Attorney and Republican senatorial nominee Roy Moore had pursued sexual relationships with at least four women then-aged 14 to 18; Moore was in his 30s.

Leigh Corfman said that when she was 14, Moore approached "drove her about 30 minutes to his home in the woods, told her how pretty she was and kissed her. On a second visit, she says, he took off her shirt and pants and removed his clothes. He touched her over her bra and underpants, she says, and guided her hand to touch him over his underwear."

In addition to Corfman, the piece indicates that Moore had pursued Wendy Moore when she was 14 and 16; Debbie Wesson Gibson when she was 17; and Gloria Thacker Deason, who Moore, allegedly, provided alcohol to, when she was 18.

Moore denied the allegations. He said:

"These allegations are completely false and are a desperate political attack by the National Democrat Party and the Washington Post on this campaign."

Developments

Moore's Response

That evening, the Judge Roy Moore senate race Twitter account defended his campaign and innocence, blaming the "Obama-Clinton Machine" for the story. Over three tweets, he wrote:

"The Obama-Clinton Machine’s liberal media lapdogs just launched the most vicious and nasty round of attacks against me I’ve EVER faced!

We are are in the midst of a spiritual battle with those who want to silence our message. The forces of evil will lie, cheat, steal –– even inflict physical harm –– if they believe it will silence and shut up Christian conservatives like you and me.

I believe you and I have a duty to stand up and fight back against the forces of evil waging an all-out war on our conservative values!

Our nation is at a crossroads right now -- both spiritually and politically."

His final tweet^[20] included a full statement entitled "Moore Campaign Issues Statement on Another Baseless Political Attack by the Washington Post," which received more than 4,400 retweets and 7,600 likes in 24 hours.

Republican Response

As of the time of the article's publication, Alabama law prevents Moore's name from being removed from the U.S. Senate ballot. Because the Republican party cannot remove his name, many within the party have responded to the allegations by stating that Moore would need to remove himself. Vice President of the United States Mike Pence said, via Press Secretary Alyssa Farah,^[2] "found the allegations in the story disturbing and believes, if true, this would disqualify anyone from serving in office."

Axios^[5] published a list of prominent Republican reactions:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, "If these allegations are true, he must step aside."

Sen. John McCain: "The allegations against Roy Moore are deeply disturbing and disqualifying. He should immediately step aside and allow the people of Alabama to elect a candidate they are proud of."

Former Gov. of Massachusetts: "Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections. I believe Leigh Corfman. Her account is too serious to ignore. Moore is unfit for office and should step aside."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski said, "I'm horrified and if this is true he needs to step down immediately." She also said she has spoken to Luther Strange about becoming a write-in challenge, ultimately challenging Moore in the Dec. 12 election.

Sen. Ted Cruz, who endorsed Roy Moore: "These are serious and troubling allegations. If they are true, Judge Moore should immediately withdraw. However, we need to know the truth, and Judge Moore has the right to respond to these accusations."

Sen. Jeff Flake: "If there is any shred of truth to the allegations against Roy Moore, he should step aside immediately."

Sen. John Cornyn, who endorsed Moore and is listed on his website, said: "Well I think the next steps are up to the governor and the people of Alabama. I find it deeply disturbing and troubling. If it is true, I don't think his candidacy is sustainable."

Sen. David Perdue called the allegations "devastating" and said Moore should withdraw if they're true.

Sen. Pat Toomey: "If there's a shred of truth to it, then he need to step aside."

Sen. Richard Shelby: "If that's true, then he wouldn't belong in the Senate."

Sen. Mike Lee: "If these allegations are true, Roy Moore needs to step down."

Sen. Tim Scott: "If they're accurate, he should step aside."
Sen. Cory Gardner, chairman of national republican senatorial committee: "If these allegations are found to be true, Roy Moore must drop out of the Alabama special Senate election."

Sen. Rob Portman: "It was very troubling … if what we read is true and people are on the record so I assume it is…" Moore should step aside.

Sen. Susan Collins: "If there is any truth at all to these horrific allegations, Roy Moore should immediately step aside as a Senate candidate."

Sen. John Hoeven: "The allegations against Roy Moore are very serious and if true, he should step down as a candidate for the Senate."

U.S. President Donald Trump responded to the allegations against Moore via White House press secretary Sarah Sanders.^[3] She said:

"Like most Americans the president believes we cannot allow a mere allegation, in this case one from many years ago, to destroy a person's life. However, the president also believes that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside."

On December 4th, Senator Mitch McConnell told ABC News that he's "going to let the people of Alabama make the call" in regards to Moore. Two days later, he claimed to have "no change of heart" on the subject.^[32]

Mary and Joseph Defense

In defense of Moore, Alabama State Auditor Jim Ziegler told the Washington Examiner,^[4] invoked the Bible to point to various degrees of men being in relationships with young women. He said, "Take the Bible. Zachariah and Elizabeth for instance. Zachariah was extremely old to marry Elizabeth and they became the parents of John the Baptist. Also take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus."

Shortly after the piece was published, people on Twitter took issue with the comparison. That day, Twitter^[9] posted a Moments page archiving the response to the statement.

Twitter^[6] user @WajahatAli tweeted, "First, gross. Second, also incorrect. Mary was a virgin. Immaculate conception. Third, no allegations of pedophilia. You're welcome. Sincerely, a Muslim who went to all boys Catholic High School." The post (shown below, left) received more than 6,500 retweets and 22,000 likes. Twitter user

@dmartosko tweeted, "Hey Jim Ziegler: There is no Biblical record of Joseph and Mary's age. Also, there was this whole Immaculate Conception thing. And you suck." The post (shown below, center) received more than 575 retweets and 3,100 likes in less than 24 hours.

@gee_roos tweeted,^[8] "That is more than disgusting. No matter what kind of story, there is no justification for child molestation. The man needs to vacate his office and take his friend, Roy Moore with him." The tweet (shown below, left) received more than 285 retweets and 1,000 likes in less than 24 hours.

Country Over Party

On December 4th, President Donald Trump came out in favor of Roy Moore for senate. That day, he tweeted,^[30] "Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama. We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, Border Wall, Military, Pro Life, V.A., Judges 2nd Amendment and more. No to Jones, a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet!" The post (shown below) received more than 25,000 retweets and 92,000 likes in two days.

Following Trump's endorsement, the Republican National Committee began funding the Moore campaign again.^[31]

On December 5th, 2017, Senator Jeff Flake tweeted^[33] a picture of a $100 made out to Doug Jones, Moore's Democratic opponent. He captioned the tweet "Country over Party." The post (shown below) received more than 50,000 retweets, 22,000 comments and 186,000 likes in less than 24 hours.

There was, however, a somewhat mixed reaction to Flake's tweet. On Twitter, people pointed out that Flake's vote on the 2017 Tax Bill discounts his tweet (examples below). Twitter^[34] published a Moments page, documenting the reaction.

Bernie Bernstein

On November 13th, the fact-checking website Snopes ^[29] debunked a rumor reported by the website The Gateway Pundit that the Washington Post had tried to pay a woman for accusations against Moore.

On November 14th, WKRG,^[27] a Fox affiliate in Alabama, reported that a local pastor, Al Moore, received a robocall from a "Bernie Bernstein," who claimed to be a reporter for the Washington Post, offering a reward for disparaging remarks or allegations against Roy Moore. The caller said:

"I’m a reporter for The Washington Post calling to find out if anyone at this address is a female between the ages of 54 to 57 years old, willing to make damaging remarks about candidate Roy Moore for a reward of between $5,000 and $7,000. We will not be fully investigating these claims, however, we will need a full report."

According to the Washington Post,^[28] the pastor was skeptical of the call because the caller changed his name from "Bernie" to "Al" by the end of the call. Additionally, the email address the caller gave, "albernstein@washingtonpost.com," bounced back. The publication said that no one by that name works for the Washington Post.

Online, people called the Bernie Berntein call "anti-semitic," citing both the accent of the caller and the name (examples below) and alleged that Roy Moore was behind the calls to discredit his accusers and bolster the Gateway Pundit report.

Child Brothel Defense

On December 11th, 2017, during Moore's final rally in his senate campaign, Bill Staehle, who served with Moore in Vietnam, told a story that he hoped would help exonerate Moore from the allegations of sexual impropriety with minors. Stahel said that a third man took them to a "private club," which turned out to be a brothel that exmployed underage women. Moore, he said, asked to leave shortly after.^[35] He said:

“They took us to this place which turned out to be a brothel. He took us to this place which turned out to be a brothel. We walked inside. I could tell you what I saw, but I don't want to. It was clear to us what kind of place this was. And Roy turned to me, and in less time than it took for someone to come up to us, and there were certainly pretty girls and they were young. Some were probably very young, I don't know, we weren't there long enough, Roy said to me, 'We shouldn't be here. I'm leaving.'

“That was Roy. Honourable, disciplined, morally straight and highly principled."

Online, people reacted negatively to the story, describing it as an inappropriate defense for the situation. HuffPost reporter Ashley Feinberg tweeted,^[35] "i want to know what other stories he discarded as too problematic before settling on the child brothel story. The tweet (shown below, left) received more than 380 retweets and 3,100 likes in less than 24 hours.

Twitter user @HonoredSpirt tweeted,^[36] "some guy just told a story about how he and Roy Moore went to a brothel with child sex slaves and Moore heroically managed to not have sex with them. why were they going there in the first place. I am going mental." The post (shown below, center) received more than 60 retweets and 490 likes in less than 24 hours.

Twitter user @Mikel_Joelley tweeted,^[37] "It is INSANE that Roy Moore going to a brothel filled with child prostitutes isn't a larger story today." The post (shown below, right) received more than 830 retweets and 1,500 likes in 24 hours.

Online Reaction

Twitter published several Moments pages archiving the reaction to the allegations against Moore.^[10][11][12]

On November 9th, the news hit the front page of several subreddits, including /r/nottheoninon,^[13] /r/news,^[14] /r/politicalhumor^[15] and /r/politics^{[16][17][18][19]} four times.

Doxing

On November 10th, alt-right media personality Jack Posobiec was reported to Twitter for reportedly doxing Moore's accuser. Twitter^[21] user @KrangTNelson posted a series of screenshots of the series of events, including Posobiec's original tweet, the deleted tweet, Posobiec accusing another outlet of doxing and blocking @KrangTNelson. Within 10 minutes, the tweet (shown below) received more than 245 retweets and 960 likes.

Election Results

On December 12th, 2017, Democratic nominee Doug Jones defeated Roy Moore in the Alabama senate race, receiving more than 49.9% of the vote.^[39] Online, many credited African-American voters for Jones' victory. Exit polls showed that 92% of African-American men (12% of the electorate) and 97% of African-American women (18% of the electorate) voted in favor of Jones.^[40] On Twitter, people tweeted that credit for the win should be given to the African-American turnout (examples below).

Roy Moore, however, did not concede after the election was called in favor of Jones. That night, he told supporters:^[41]

"when the vote is this close that it’s not over. And we still got to go by the rules about this recount provision and the secretary of state has explained it to us and we’re expecting that the press will go up there and talk to them to find out what the situation is […]

"That’s what we’ve got to do is wait on God and let this process play out. I know it’s late. We can’t wait and have everybody wait until after 11:00. But the votes are still coming in and we’re looking at that. May God bless you as you go on, give you safe journey and thank you for coming tonight.

It’s not over and it’s going to take some time. Thank you."

According to Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, while Moore can order a recount, it would be his responsibility to pay for it. Only in instances where the split is within .5% that the state pays for a recount. Merrill also said that it's unlikely that a recount will change the outcome.^[42]

President Trump tweeted^[43] three times about the election. His first tweet (shown below, left) read, "Congratulations to Doug Jones on a hard fought victory. The write-in votes played a very big factor, but a win is a win. The people of Alabama are great, and the Republicans will have another shot at this seat in a very short period of time. It never ends!" The post received more than 20,000 retweets and 95,000 likes in less than 12 hours.

The following day, he referenced how he did not originally endorse Moore, but rather Luther Strange, who he campaigned for in the senate primaries. He wrote,^[44] "The reason I originally endorsed Luther Strange (and his numbers went up mightily), is that I said Roy Moore will not be able to win the General Election. I was right! Roy worked hard but the deck was stacked against him!" The post (shown below, center) received more than 8,800 retweets and 40,000 likes in less than six hours.

Finally, he tweeted,^[45] "If last night’s election proved anything, it proved that we need to put up GREAT Republican candidates to increase the razor thin margins in both the House and Senate." The final post (shown below, right) received more than 5,200 retweets and 24,000 likes in six hours.

Online, people posted memes referencing Roy Moore's loss. Twitter^[46] user @dieworkwear tweeted a picture of Roy Moore on a horse with Crying Michael Jordan photoshopped over the horse's head. The post (shown below) received more than 130 retweets and 330 likes in less than 24 hours.

Who Is America? Appearance

On July 29th, 2018, the YouTube account for the Showtime television series Who Is America? released a clip of Roy Moore on the series. In the segment, comedian Sacha Baron Cohen disguises himself as an Israeli anti-terror expert and interviews Moore. Cohen shows Moore a device that can detect pedophiles. When Cohen turns the device on, it begins beeping when waved in front of Moore, who has been accused of having sexual relationships with underage women. Moore leaves soon after the device begins recognizing him as a pedophile. The video (shown below) received more than 1 million views in 24 hours.

That day, Vulture^[47] ranked Moore's appearance #3 in a list of whose appearance was the most "Damning."

Moore responded to the segment by explaining that he received an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C., where he would receive an award for his support of Israel. He wrote in a statement, "I did not know Sacha Cohen or that a Showtime TV series was being planned to embarrass, humiliate, and mock not only Israel, but also religious conservatives such as Sarah Palin, Joe Walsh, and Dick Cheney[…]As an American, I would never hide my identity and deceive others only to mock and ridicule them as this Showtime Series is designed to do."^[48]

Related Memes

#MeAt14

On November 11th, 2017, the co-creator of The Daily Show Lizz Winstead tweeted,^[22] a picture of her at age 14 with the caption "This is me at 14. I was on the gymnastics team and sang in the choir. I was not dating a 32 year old man. Who were you at 14? Tweet a pic, tell us who you were and pic to the top of your page #MeAt14 #NoMoore." Within two day, the picture (shown below) received more than 5,200 retweets and 20,000 likes.

Shortly after Winstead posted the picture, more women began posting pictures of them at 14 (examples below). Journalist Katie Couric tweeted,^[24] "I was eating a lot of chocolate chip cookie dough and learning to do the “hustle” and not worrying about a 32 year old man trying to hustle me. #MeAt14." The post (shown below, right) received more than 1,000 retweets and 5,800 likes in two days.

The following day, Twitter^[23] published a Moments page to archive the posts, garnering more than 3,300 likes in less than 24 hours.

Hey Dems!

On November 12th, 2017, conservative commentator and media personality Ann Coulter tweeted,^[25] "Hey Dems! JFK had an extra marital affair with 19-year old Mimi Alford when he was 45 years old." Additionally, she posted an article from people magazine about the affair. The post (shown below) received more than 7,300 retweets and 13,000 likes in less than two days.

Shortly after Coulter's tweet was posted, others responded by parodying her arguement, starting with the phrase "Hey Dems!" Most of these included references to television in which fictional characters engaging in affairs with significant age differences (examples below).

Others online pointed out, sarcastically, that the late-President John F. Kennedy was not running for Alabama Senate. On November 13th, model Chrissy Teigen tweeted,^[26] "I, too, will now not vote for JFK. Let's do this, Nixon." The tweet (shown below) received more than 3,300 retweets and 25,000 likes in less than 24 hours.

Search Interest

External References