Trump would want Moore to step aside if sexual misconduct allegations true: White House

DANANG, Vietnam (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump would want Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore to step aside if sexual misconduct allegations against him are true, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Friday.

A woman has accused Roy Moore, the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in Alabama, of initiating a sexual encounter with her when she was 14 years old and he was 32, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

Moore, 70, the state's former chief judge, vehemently denied the allegations, calling them "completely false and a desperate political attack."

"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," Sanders said.

"However, the president also believes that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside," she said, as Trump arrived in Vietnam on his 12-day Asia tour.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Matthew Tostevin; Editing by Michael Perry)