Edward Helmore, London, 23 November 2017<\/p>\n
Representative Scott Taylor of Virginia says if his daughter had been among Senate candidate\u2019s alleged victims, \u2018I\u2019d break his fingers and worse\u2019.<\/p>\n
A Republican congressman has said he would have beaten up Roy Moore<\/a>, the GOP nominee for a US Senate seat in Alabama, if any of the women who have made sexual misconduct allegations against the judge had been his daughter.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 14-year-old girl that was there, I can tell you right now if it was my daughter, I\u2019d break his face, I\u2019d break his fingers, and I\u2019d probably do a lot worse,\u201d Virginia<\/a> representative Scott Taylor told CNN on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Taylor, a former navy Seal, said he did not \u201cfeel comfortable\u201d with Moore\u2019s response to the sexual misconduct allegations<\/a> against him, which include the claim that he initiated a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl in 1979, when he was 32. Moore has denied all such allegations.<\/p>\n \u201cAll I know is what I\u2019ve seen,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cI saw the man give his interview. Me personally, I don\u2019t think it was sufficient enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Moore\u2019s campaign \u2013 which on Wednesday confirmed the departure of its communications director, John Rogers \u2013 did not immediately return a request for comment.<\/p>\n The Republican party is increasingly at odds with Donald Trump over Moore and the Alabama race. On Tuesday, the president indicated<\/a> that he did not accept the accusations against Moore. The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell<\/a>, and other senior Republicans have said they do.<\/p>\n Asked how he felt about the potential election of an alleged \u201cchild molester\u201d to the Senate, the president said Moore \u201ctotally denies it\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHe says it didn\u2019t happen,\u201d Trump told reporters. \u201cYou have to listen to him, also.\u201d<\/p>\n Republican leaders are concerned that win or lose in Alabama on 12 December, Moore will damage the party\u2019s brand before the 2018 midterm elections.<\/p>\n As Moore has refused to drop out, controversy over alleged sexual misconduct by prominent men has spread in politics to include accusations against Trump, Bill Clinton and two congressional Democrats, the Michigan representative John Conyers<\/a> and Minnesota senator Al Franken<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Washington Post published<\/a> its explosive allegations against Moore two weeks ago. Since then, other women have come forward. Moore, near-level with Democrat Doug Jones<\/a> in the polls, has said he does not recall dating any young women without their mothers\u2019 permission.<\/p>\n