White House counselor Kellyanne Conway appeared on ABC News’ “This Week” on Monday morning and addressed the recent sexual misconduct allegations against Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore of Alabama.
Throughout the seven-minute interview, host Martha Raddatz repeatedly asked Conway if she believed the four women who had accused Moore of some type of sexual misconduct. The interview begins at the 4:20 mark in the video above.
Conway expertly navigated around Raddatz’s questions multiple times, but did call Moore’s alleged behavior “offensive” and “disgusting.”
“I said very early in this process that the conduct as described should disqualify anyone from serving in public office, and I’ll stand by that,” Conway told Raddatz. “The president and others in the Republican Party have made clear that if the allegations are true, this man should step aside. But I’ve gone farther than that and I’ve reflected on something that the vice president said as well, which is that everybody should know that that conduct is disqualifying.”
Last week, The Washington Post reported that Moore allegedly gave a 14-year-old girl alcohol and touched her inappropriately in 1979, when he was 32 years old. Three other women say that Moore pursued them when they were between 16 and 18 years old. Moore has denied the allegations.
“I take very seriously allegations like this, particularly when they involve somebody who happens to be one of my daughter’s ages,” Conway said. “I take this seriously. I’ve tried to be a very loud voice for a very long time against this sexual impropriety.”
At least 16 women have accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault dating back to the 1980s. In October 2016, a 2005 audio recording leaked that featured Trump bragging about grabbing women “by the pussy.”
Last November, when an audience member at the University of Virginia asked Conway how she rationalized being Trump’s campaign manager in the wake of the assault allegations, Conway dismissed the question and said: “For you to use sexual assault to try to make news here I think is unfortunate.”