House Speaker Paul Ryan Calls On Roy Moore To End Senate Bid

WASHINGTON, DC — House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday joined a growing number of Republican lawmakers who have called on GOP Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore to step down in the wake of accusations he had inappropriate sexual contact with several underage girls.

“He should step aside,” Ryan said at a press conference on Tuesday morning. “Number one, these allegations are credible. Number two, if he cares about the values and people he claims to care about, then he should step aside.”

The Washington Post reported last week that Moore initiated sexual contact with a number of women when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. One of the women named in the Post report said Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 14 and he was 32.

On Monday, another Moore accuser came forward in a press conference with lawyer Gloria Allred to accuse Moore of sexually assaulting her when she was 16. The woman, Beverly Young Nelson, said at the press conference that Moore had forced her head into his crotch and groped her as they sat in a car.

Previously, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called on Moore to drop out of the race if the allegations were true.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions also testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that he had “no reason to doubt” the women who have accused Moore of sexual misconduct. Sessions' remarks came amid questions about contacts between Russians and associates of President Donald Trump.

Moore is running against Democrat Doug Jones to fill the Senate seat that Sessions left vacant when he became Attorney General.

Photo credit: J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press