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In an impassioned speech on Friday, Kayla Moore said her husband, Roy Moore, "will not step down" from his Senate campaign.
- Kayla Moore, the wife of US Senate candidate Roy Moore, delivered an impassioned defense of her husband, who has been accused of sexual misconduct with teen girls as young as 14 when he was in his 30s.
- Kayla argued that the accusations are lies fabricated by the "liberal press" and "Washington establishment" to hurt her husband's campaign.
Kayla Moore, the wife of US Senate candidate Roy Moore, delivered an impassioned defense of her husband, who has been accused of sexual misconduct with teenage girls when he was in his 30s.
During a Friday "Women for Roy Moore" rally in Montgomery, Alabama, Kayla alleged that the "liberal press" are working with the Democratic Party and "the Washington establishment" to take down her husband's campaign.
"The people of Alabama understand what's going on here," Kayla said. "The liberal press, Washington Post, who endorsed Hillary Clinton, who also endorsed our opponent, gets involved in this race along with the Human Rights Campaign, the DNC, and the Washington establishment."
Moore argued that the Post, which broke the first story about Moore's accusers, publishes "whatever anyone says without even checking to see if it is correct."
But, she said, Alabamians understand that her husband is "fighting for life, fighting against abortion, fighting for the acknowledgement of God, fighting for traditional marriage, and fighting to protect the Second Amendment."
"So to the people of Alabama, thank you, for being smarter than they think you are," she said.
Kayla also used the opportunity to take a jab at President Donald Trump, who has said little that is either critical or supportive of her husband since the allegations surfaced, even as a growing chorus of Republican leaders are calling on Roy to abandon his Senate bid.
"I personally think he owes us a thank you," Kayla said. "Have you noticed you're not hearing too much about Russia?"
She added, amid cheers and laughs, "Now is a good time to get some things done in Congress."
Kayla has emerged as her husband's most ardent defender since four women alleged in a Washington Post report on November 9 that Roy pursued romantic relationships with them when they were as young as 14.
Since then, three more women have come forward with similar allegations. One of them, Beverly Young Nelson, who says that Moore sexually assaulted her in his car when she was 16 years old, was a high school classmate of Kayla's.
Kayla, who is 14 years younger than her husband of 32 years, said her husband has "always been an officer and a gentleman."
"He will not step down," Kayla concluded at the Friday rally. "He will not stop fighting for the people of Alabama."