Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore should step down unless he can prove he is innocent of accusations of sexually abusing teenaged girls while he was in his 30s, Rep. Pete King said Friday.
"Ordinarily, the person is entitled to the presumption of innocence," the New York Republican told MSNBC's Kristen Welker. "But in this case, it's so serious, and the fact it's backed up by other women and it's so hideous, I would say unless he can prove his innocence, the burden is on him within the next day or so, he should step down. He owes it to the state and the U.S. Senate."
The allegations are so serious, he continued, and the fact that they have been corroborated by a number of women, points to Moore needing to shoulder the burden of proving himself to be innocent, King added.
"You could always have one person saying one thing and memories could change," King said. "That's all possible. But when you have this type of corroboration, it's a burden on him and the fact he's sending out fundraising appeals based on this to me is really, really bad form."
Further, King said that unless Moore can come out by Saturday to show why his accusers are lying, he should just drop out of the race, and "only he would know" how to do that.
But when it comes to whether King himself believes Moore's accusers, he said he has not seen exactly what they are saying, but he insisted that Moore only has a short window of time to answer the claims.
"I don't know if it matters whether it's today, tomorrow, or the next day, but he should do it within the next 48 hours, one way or the other," King said.
The lawmaker also thinks Republicans have a moral imperative when it comes to Moore.
"That's why I'm saying I think the balance is shifted here," he said. "If he can't disprove the charges in a brief period of time, then he should step aside. These are among the most hideous crimes you could imagine. To me this is despicable. A 14-year-old girl. It's beyond any comprehension."