MOBILE, Ala. — Democrat Doug Jones is taking off the gloves with one week to go in the Alabama Senate race, blasting Republican opponent Roy Moore by suggesting he belongs in prison, not the Senate.
In a blistering speech that his campaign had billed as a major address, Jones said the nine women accusing Moore of sexual impropriety when they were teenagers should be believed and that Moore was unfit for the job even before they came forward.
"I damn sure believe that I have done my part to ensure that men who hurt little girls should go to jail and not the United States Senate," the former federal prosecutor said.
The Senate candidate is accused of sexually abusing a teen girl and sexual misconduct towards other teens and young women, decades ago.
Moore has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing, saying the women are lying.
“Roy Moore has never, ever served our state with honor," Jones said. "He has never, ever been a source of pride for the people of this state, only a source of embarrassment."
Jones even mocked Moore for flashing a revolver at a campaign rally, saying he uses guns for hunting, "Not prancing around on a stage in a cowboy hat."
Jones is looking to shift momentum in the closing days of the race and get voters in the heavily Republican state to cross partisan lines.
"This is about decency and not a political party, and anybody who thinks differently should be ashamed," he said.
And Jones, breaking from his campaign's previous focus to what he calls "kitchen table issues," didn’t limit his attacks on Moore to the sex scandal.
He said Moore had "lived off of donations to a so-called charitable foundation," referring to payments he from his Foundation for Moral Law, and slammed Moore for being removed from the Alabama Supreme Court. "I’ve never been fired from a job I’ve held," Jones said.
He warned Moore “would be a disaster for business in Alabama,” because multinational companies wouldn’t want to associate with the sate.
"Roy Moore has spent his entire life using whatever position he was in to create conflict and division in order to promote his personal agenda," Jones said.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday that he believes if Moore wins, his case will be taken up by the Senate Ethics Committee.
"I had hoped that Judge Moore would resign," McConnell said. "In other words, withdraw from the race, (but) that is obviously not going to happen. If he were to be elected, I think he immediately would have an issue with the ethics committee, which they would take up."
