Toomey: Luther Strange would be a strong write-in candidate compared to Roy Moore

NEW YORK/MONTGOMERY, Ala. (UPI) — Sen. Pat Toomey said Sunday he thinks embattled Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore should “just step aside.”

“A write-in is something we should certainly explore,” the Pennsylvania Republican told host Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press. “I think Luther Strange would be a strong candidate for a write-in.”

Toomey made the remarks after The Washington Post last week reported Moore’s alleged relationships with teenage girls while he was in his early 30s. Moore, now 70, has denied any wrongdoing.

“When someone waits 40 years before they make an accusation, you know, that raises a question itself. So, it’s probably not knowable. But there seems to be enough there that it’s very disturbing,” Toomey said.

Toomey’s fellow Republican senators Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski and John McCain expressed similar sentiments after the story broke and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the fundraising arm for Senate Republicans, signaled its disassociation with Moore in a filing with the Federal Election Commission Friday.

“The people in Alabama know Roy Moore better than we do here in D.C., and I think we have to be very cautious, as Senator Toomey said, of allegations that are 40 years old that arise a month before election day,” White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short told Todd in a separate interview Sunday. “If more evidence comes out that can prove that he did this, then sure, by all means he should be disqualified. But that’s a huge if, and I think we have to allow that more facts come out.”

Moore, a twice-removed Justice on the Alabama Supreme Court, defeated Strange in the Republican primary in September.

Strange took office after U.S. President Donald Trump nominated former Sen. Jeff Sessions to become Attorney General. Trump actively campaigned for Strange ahead of the primary election. Moore faces Democratic candidate Doug Jones in a Dec. 12 special election.

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