“How have we reached a point in this country when nearly half the voters of a U.S. state so mistrust, and even revile, major media outlets that they are willing to brush aside credible evidence and elect an accused sexual predator simply out of spite? How have we reached a point where a president of the United States can just declare ‘fake’ news he doesn’t like—and largely get away with it?,” Politico asks.

“In at least one survey, trust in the media—the necessary vanguard of any free society—is even lower than trust in Trump, which itself is nothing to tweet about. How on earth has this happened?”

“No, the real reason for a situation that allows the Roy Moores and Donald Trumps of the world to rise above mere laughingstock status is that the media has totally lost its connection with a large portion of the nation, almost all of them conservatives. Worse, the media has become what Trump and allies refer to as “the opposition party”—and, as such, a most useful foil for the Trump administration.”

“This problem is real. The anger against the mainstream media is deep-seated. And, as difficult it is for many to accept, much of the anger is justified.”

“The 14-year-old girl that was there, I can tell you right now if it was my daughter, I’d break his face, I’d break his fingers, and I’d probably do a lot worse.”

— Rep. Scott Taylor (R-VA), in a CNN interview, saying he didn’t “feel comfortable” with Roy Moore’s response to allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

A retired Alabama police officer said police were told in the 1970s to make sure now-GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore stayed away from high school cheerleaders because the “rumor mill was that he liked young girls,” The Hill reports.

Said former Gadsden police officer Faye Gary: “We were advised that he was being suspended from the mall because he would hang around the young girls that worked in the stores and, you know, really got into a place of where they say he was harassing.”

Washingtonian: Roy Moore’s communications director resigns.

“We believe Judge Moore. We don’t believe these women. It’s just that simple. And y’all can keep trotting them out if you want to, but we’re not going to talk about that.”

— Roy Moore campaign strategist Dean Young, on CNN.

Alabama pastor Flip Benham, who recently appeared with U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore (R) at a campaign rally, told an Alabama radio station that Moore dated “younger ladies” for their “purity.”

Said Benham: “He did that because there is something about a purity of a young woman, there is something that is good, that’s true, that’s straight and he looked for that.”

A new Quinnipiac poll finds that American voters by a 60% to 28% margin that if Roy Moore (R) is elected to the U.S. Senate from Alabama, the U.S. Senate should vote to expel him.

Republicans, however, say he should be allowed to serve by 49% to 33%.

Every other listed party, gender, education, age and racial group says expel him.

President Trump “appeared to throw his support behind Roy Moore (R), despite allegations of sexual misconduct lodged against the Republican Alabama Senate candidate,” The Hill reports.

Said Trump: “We don’t need a liberal Democrat in the seat… He denies it. He totally denies it.”

Daily Beast: “Multiple sources in and out of the West Wing say that some of Trump’s closest advisers have recommended that he not criticize Moore publicly prior to the election in November. Among those privately encouraging him to stay mum have been Kellyanne Conway, the president’s counselor and former campaign manager, and Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist and current Breitbart chairman.”

“According to two sources—one a White House official and the other a Republican source close to both the White House and Bannon—Bannon has spoken multiple times on the phone to President Trump since late last week. At least one of those calls was devoted to discouraging the president from rejecting or criticizing Moore in public statements.”

“Democrats and news outlets have noted, sometimes with scandalous subtext, that Mr. Moore dissented from the Alabama Supreme Court’s majority in several instances to side with a person accused of sexual crimes.”

“A New York Times review of 20 cases focused on sexual crimes or misconduct during Mr. Moore’s tenure on the Alabama Supreme Court found that he sided with the accused 13 times, a higher rate than almost all of his colleagues.”

“The Alabama Republican Party said Thursday that it would stand behind the embattled Senate candidacy of Roy S. Moore, most likely leaving Republicans with a nominee facing numerous allegations of sexual misconduct and unwanted overtures to women,” the New York Times reports.

“The decision, which a committee of 21 party leaders reached Wednesday evening but did not formally announce until Thursday, placed the state’s Republicans at bitter and public odds with national party leaders, who had demanded that Mr. Moore leave the race here ahead of a special election in December.”

“The Alabama Republican Party is sticking with Senate candidate Roy Moore, party leaders told NBC News on Wednesday night, even as more women were reported to have accused him of making unwanted advances.”

“The steering committee of the state Republican Party — the only entity with the power to remove Moore from the Dec. 12 special election ballot — took no action on Moore’s nomination at a meeting Wednesday.”

Two addition women told the Washington Post of unwanted sexual advances made by Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore (R) when they were teenagers and he was in his thirties.

“In all, The Post spoke to a dozen people who worked at the mall or hung out there as teenagers during the late ’70s and early ’80s and recall Moore as a frequent presence — a well-dressed man walking around alone, leaning on counters, spending enough time in the stores, especially on weekend nights, that some of the young women who worked there said they became uncomfortable.”

Jonathan Swan: “There is ‘zero chance’ Steve Bannon will back down from his support of Roy Moore, according to one source close to Bannon. A second source says Bannon believes Moore’s denials which is why he’s sticking with him.”

“Bannon has been out of the country and silent on the Moore situation as it spun out of control and other Republicans called for him to drop out of the race. Bannon’s response, to triple-down on his support, will intensify his war with Republicans. As the source close to Bannon put it, Mitch McConnell should quit the Senate before Moore.”

Kelly Harrison Thorp told the Birmingham News that when she was 17 years old and working as a hostess at the Red Lobster restaurant, Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore (R) asked her if she’d go out with him sometime.

“I just kind of said, ‘Do you know how old I am?'” she recalled.

“And he said, ‘Yeah. I go out with girls your age all the time.'”