Doug Jones swipes at Roy Moore, Stephen Bannon at Alabama Senate rally

(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

last updated 6 December 2017

Democrat Doug Jones and Republican Roy Moore held dueling rallies in Alabama on Tuesday night, a week ahead of the Dec. 12 election that will send one of them to the U.S. Senate. Jones has tended to steer clear of the accusations from several women that Moore sexually abused or pursued them when he was in his 30s and they were teenagers, but he did not hold back on Tuesday in Birmingham, comparing Moore's allegations with his own record as a federal prosecutor. "I damn sure believe that I have done my part to ensure that men who hurt little girls should go to jail and not the United States Senate," he said.

Jones said Moore was "already an embarrassment to this state" before the teen sexual abuse accusations, noting that he was twice kicked off the Alabama Supreme Court. But "we need to look at this as parents, as grandparents, and not through the jaded lens of politics," he said. "This is about decency and not a political party, and anyone who thinks otherwise should be ashamed." At Moore's rally, Stephen Bannon said Jones would "support the program of Hillary Clinton" in the Senate, and Jones had a response to that, too, tweeting: "We don't need an outside agitator like Steve Bannon carpetbagging in Alabama."

Jones also responded to President Trump's and Moore's accusations that Jones would attack the Second Amendment. "Despite the silly name-calling my record as a prosecutor speaks for itself," he said. "I am a supporter of the Second Amendment. When you see me with a gun, folks, I'll be climbing in or out of a deer stand or a turkey blind, not prancing around on a stage in cowboy suit."