Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said Wednesday that the Senate would have “no choice but to seat” Judge Roy Moore if he wins the Alabama Senate race in December.
According to the law, “We would have no choice but to seat him,” she said, speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill.
Her remarks come amid threats from Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and other establishment Republican senators that they will push Moore out even if he wins on December 12 over Democrat Doug Jones.
Republican senators who opposed Moore are calling for him to step aside, after the Washington Post published an interview with a woman who said she met him in 1977 when she was 14 and he was 32, alleging that the second time she went out with Moore, he initiated a sexual encounter.
On Monday, another woman said during a press conference arranged by celebrity attorney Gloria Allred that when she was 16, Moore groped her in his car and tried to force her head towards his crotch.
Moore has denied both allegations, which he said were politically motivated attacks.
“I had nothing to do with this, this is a completely manufactured story meant to defrock this campaign,” Moore told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “They are losing, they are 11 points behind, they don’t like my acknowledgment that there is a God.”
“These allegations are completely false and misleading,” he added.
Republican senators are also trying to get President Trump to pressure Moore to step aside, but there is no word on whether he will weigh in.