Victor over Roy Moore says US should ‘move on’ from Trump’s alleged sexual misconduct

Alabama Senator-elect Doug Jones believes allegations of sexual misconduct made against US President Donald Trump should not lead to his resignation.

The newly-elected Democratic senator, who previously hit out at Senate election rival Roy Moore over historic sexual assault allegations made against him by multiple women, said people should “get on with the real issues.”

Sexual assault allegations have been levelled at US President Donald Trump by a number of women, including a former Miss Finland winner. The allegations, which Trump has branded “wild and false,”have led to calls for the 45th US president to step down.

However, in a statement that appeared to be at odds with his reaction to Senate rival Roy Moore, Jones backed the president to continue in his role. It came after Jones was asked on CNN’s State of the Union if he agreed with Democratic Senator Cory Booker’s call for Trump to go.

“Those allegations were made before the [presidential] election and so people had an opportunity to judge before that election. I think we need to move on and not get distracted by those issues. Let’s get on with the real issues facing people of this country right now and I don’t think the president ought to resign at this point,” Jones said on CNN’s State of the Union.

In an open letter published in November, Moore labelled the allegations by his accusers as false and defamatory. Jones later denounced the former judge for “inconsistencies” in his denials.

“It is crystal clear that these women are telling the truth and Roy Moore is not,” Jones said prior to the December 12 Alabama election.

Jones later claimed victory over the former Supreme Court judge by a margin of just over 20,000 votes.