Morning Joe pundits slam 'depraved' Republican defenses of Roy Moore

Morning Joe.
(Image credit: Screenshot/Mediaite)

Pundits on Friday's Morning Joe condemned a series of Republican responses to the allegations against Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore as "depraved." Four women have accused Moore of initiating inappropriate relationships with them when they were teenagers. One of the accusers said she was 14 when Moore, 32 at the time, approached her.

Things heat up at the 8:18 mark, when Morning Joe co-anchor Willie Geist reads Alabama Geneva County GOP chairman Riley Seibenhener's comment that "other than being with an underage person, he didn't really force himself ... I know that 14-year-olds don't make good decisions."

The panel lamented the state of politics. "Have the politics so corrupted people that the defense of the tribe supersedes a 14-year-old girl saying she was raped?" Geist asked. "Is that where we are?" Donny Deutsch brought up his own 14-year-old and asked, "What's happened to us?"

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In defending Moore, several Republicans emphasized the importance of winning Alabama's upcoming special election, to which Republican strategist Susan DelPercio asked, "How is it possible that we get to this stage where electing a Democrat is worse than electing a deviant?"

Watch the full clip below. Elianna Spitzer

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Elianna Spitzer

Elianna Spitzer is a rising junior at Brandeis University, majoring in Politics and American Studies. She is also a news editor and writer at The Brandeis Hoot. When she is not covering campus news, Elianna can be found arguing legal cases with her mock trial team.q