Mitch McConnell reverses call for Roy Moore to drop out of Alabama Senate race

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December 3, 2017 4:06 PM

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he'd leave it up to Alabama voters to decide whether GOP candidate Roy Moore should be in the US Senate.

Mitch McConnell said he'll leave it up to Alabama voters to decide whether Roy Moore should be in the US Senate.
McConnell previously said Moore should drop out of the race.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to reverse course over whether former judge Roy Moore should drop out of the Alabama Senate race on Sunday.

Despite calling for the GOP nominee to step aside last month following numerous allegations of sexual misconduct with teenagers, in an interview on "This Week," McConnell would not say whether Moore belonged in the Senate.

"I'm going to let the people of Alabama make the call," McConnell said. "The election's been going on a long time, there's been a lot of discussion about it. They're going to make the decision a week from Tuesday."

The majority leader also dodged host George Stephanopoulos' question about whether he would "take action" if Moore were elected the Senate.

"The ethics committee will have to have consider the matters that have been litigated in the campaign, should that particular candidate win," McConnell said.

McConnell's comments largely echoed those of President Donald Trump, who refused repeatedly last month to say whether Moore should step aside.

Though he will not campaign explicitly for Moore, the president is set to hold a rally next week just over the state line in Florida, where he is expected to criticize Moore's opponent, Democrat Doug Jones.

Despite a wave of calls for Moore to resign following multiple allegations against Moore of harassment and potential assault, the GOP nominee has doubled down on his denials and refused to exit the race.

Recent polls have found Moore and Jones in a virtual dead-heat.