NEW YORK ― As President Donald Trump remains mum on allegations that Senate nominee Roy Moore of Alabama sexually abused multiple teenage girls, his daughter Ivanka said she believes the accusers.
“There’s a special place in hell for people who prey on children,” Ivanka Trump said in an interview with The Associated Press that published Wednesday. “I’ve yet to see a valid explanation, and I have no reason to doubt the victims’ accounts.”
The president’s daughter and adviser did not say whether Moore should exit the race.
Republicans are trying to figure out what to do about Moore, who has refused to drop out of the Senate race despite recent allegations that he pursued or sexually assaulted teenagers when he was in his 30s. Several party leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have called on Moore to drop out.
In a news conference Wednesday, President Trump walked out on reporters as they asked him whether Moore should be allowed to stay in the race. Without Trump’s guidance, it’s now up to the Alabama Republican Party’s steering committee to decide whether to disqualify Moore as a candidate.
The president’s silence may have something to do with the fact that he, too, was accused during his campaign of sexual assault and harassment by 16 women. Trump has long insisted that those women are lying. He threatened to sue them during his campaign and denied all of their allegations again last month, calling them “fake news” and “made-up stuff.”
- This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
