Governor Hogan On Roy Moore: 'Americans Are Better Than This'

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Gov. Larry Hogan has an opinion about the GOP Senate race in Alabama. The Maryland governor does not often interject with commentary about the national political drama. But on Saturday, he took to Twitter and made his feelings known about Republican Roy Moore.

Moore is the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate election against Democrat Doug Jones on Dec. 12.

According to a story published in The Washington Post on Thursday, Moore had a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl, when he was in his 30s. Moore and his campaign fervently denied the accusations, calling the story "fake news."

Regardless, Hogan said that the nation could do better than to entertain such a candidate.

"Roy Moore’s defenders should ask themselves if they would be so quick to excuse him if the victim was their daughter or if the offender was a Democrat. He is unfit for office and should step aside. Americans are better than this," Hogan tweeted on Saturday afternoon.

A statement from Moore's campaign said the following after the allegations came to light: "Judge Roy Moore has endured the most outlandish attacks on any candidate in the modern political arena, but this story in today's Washington Post alleging sexual impropriety takes the cake," reads the statement, noting that Moore has been married to the same woman for 33 years and has four children and five grandchildren. "After over 40 years of public service, if any of these allegations were true, they would have been made public long before now."

Some Alabama politicians have already said they still support Moore, including Alabama State Auditor Jim Ziegler, who told the Washington Examiner, "The allegations are that a man in his early 30s dated teenage girls. Even the Washington Post report says that he never had sexual intercourse with any of the girls and never attempted sexual intercourse."

Not all are so supportive. Senior Republicans and POTUS have said that they think if the allegations were true, then Moore should drop out of the race.

"The allegations against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore are deeply troubling," said Colorado Sen. Chairman Cory Gardner, who leads the Senate GOP campaign arm. "If these allegations are found to be true, Roy Moore must drop out of the Alabama special Senate election."

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

President Donald Trump also said that if the allegations against Moore were true, then he was sure that the GOP candidate will "do the right thing and step aside," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Friday.

Hogan took a stronger stand than others in his party who added conditions to whether the candidate should continue with his campaign, calling Moore "unfit for office."

With reporting by Patch editor Cody Fenwick.

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File photo of Larry Hogan via Facebook.