Was Roy Moore an accused teen girl molester and Trump endorsed him?

1. The allegations: who said what and how many

Reporting from mainstream outlets documented that several women—initial counts ranged from four to nine named accusers—told investigators and reporters that Moore pursued them when they were teenagers and he was in his early 30s, with one accuser, Leigh Corfman, saying she was 14 when an encounter occurred and describing sexual contact she alleges took place at Moore’s home ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Different outlets summarized that while some described pursued relationships when the women were older teens, at least two accusers explicitly accused Moore of assault or molestation, a distinction that reporters emphasized as central to the public reaction ^[1].

2. Moore’s denials and subsequent legal notes

Moore consistently denied sexually assaulting anyone and acknowledged only that he may have dated teenagers while in his 30s, framing the encounters as consensual or misremembered rather than criminal ^[7]. In the years after the campaign, competing defamation lawsuits between Moore and one accuser were resolved by a jury finding that neither party defamed the other—a civil jury decision that does not adjudicate criminal guilt but relates to post‑campaign litigation over statements made publicly ^[8]. Court testimony in those cases, including Corfman’s testimony, reiterated her account that Moore sexually touched her when she was 14 ^[9].

3. Trump’s endorsement: timing, words and impact

The White House confirmed that Trump had a positive call with Moore and then the president effectively endorsed Moore’s campaign in early December 2017, tweeting and later telephoning support—“Go get ’em, Roy!”—after initially saying Moore should step aside if the allegations were true ^{[5] [10] [4]}. Trump’s public backing helped restore party support: the Republican National Committee, which had earlier withdrawn active support, renewed assistance for Moore after the presidential endorsement ^[6]. Coverage described Trump casting doubt on the accusations, arguing that “40 years is a long time” and highlighting partisan stakes over whether a Democrat or Republican would take the seat ^[4].

4. Political context and hidden agendas

Reporting at the time made explicit that the endorsement was not just a personal judgment but a political calculation: Republican leaders worried about keeping a Senate majority and passing priorities such as tax legislation, and some White House aides framed retaining the seat as necessary to secure votes on the agenda—an explicit trade‑off critics said prioritized policy over vetting allegations ^{[5] [11]}. Other Republicans—including Senate leaders and prominent figures such as McConnell, Ryan and McCain—publicly urged Moore to step aside or withdrew their endorsement, reflecting an intraparty split between electoral pragmatism and concerns about the credibility of accusers and the party’s image ^{[7] [6]}.

5. How to answer the central question, and limitations

Was Roy Moore “an accused teen girl molester and Trump endorsed him”? Factually: yes—multiple women accused Moore of pursuing and, in some accounts, molesting teenage girls when he was in his 30s, and President Trump publicly endorsed Moore during the 2017 Alabama Senate race despite those allegations ^{[1] [2] [3] [5] [10]}. Moore denied the allegations, and subsequent civil jury rulings in defamation litigation found neither party liable, a legal outcome that does not equate to a criminal conviction nor fully resolve factual disputes from the campaign ^{[8] [9]}. Reporting limitations: the provided sources do not document a criminal conviction tied to the 2017 allegations, and public statements and political calculations shaped how endorsements and party responses unfolded ^{[8] [5]}.