Fox News host Sean Hannity gives Roy Moore 24 hours to explain himself

'If he can’t do this, then Judge Moore needs to get out of this race,' Hannity says

Less than a week after bringing Senate candidate Roy Moore on his show for an interview, Fox News host Sean Hannity has given the former judge 24 hours to explain the “inconsistencies” in his response to allegations of sexual misconduct.

Hannity invited Mr Moore onto his radio show last week to discuss the allegations laid out in a Washington Post article. Multiple women told the Post that Mr Moore had pursued them when they were in their teens and he was in his thirties. One woman accused him of initiating a sexual encounter when she was only 14. Mr Moore denied these allegations.

On Hannity’s show on Friday, the candidate called the allegations “completely false and misleading”. Asked if he ever dated girls in their teens, Mr Moore responded: “Not generally, no.”

“I don’t remember that and I don’t remember ever dating any girl without the permission of her mother,” he added.

During the segment, Hannity wondered how one could “possibly tell, know the truth” about the allegations.

But on Monday, a fifth woman came forward to accuse the candidate of sexual misconduct. Alabama resident Beverly Young accused Mr Moore of locking her in his car and groping her when she was 16 years old – claims Mr Moore vehemently denied.

“I can tell you without hesitation this is absolutely false,” Moore told reporters on Monday evening. “I never did what she said I did.”

He added that he did not even know the woman, or the restaurant where she claimed to have worked, despite her producing a high school yearbook that he appears to have signed.

On his Fox News programme on Tuesday, Hannity called on Mr Moore to explain the yearbook, as well as his statements about “not generally” dating teenage girls.

"For me, the judge has 24 hours,” Hannity said. “You must immediately and fully come up with a satisfactory explanation for your inconsistencies that I just showed. You must remove any doubt."

He added: "If he can’t do this, then Judge Moore needs to get out of this race.”

Multiple companies pulled advertisements from Hannity’s TV and radio shows after his interview with Mr Moore, in which some felt he implied that the alleged sexual encounters were consensual. Hannity later apologised for misspeaking, but not before brands such as Keurig, 23andMe, and Eloquii pulled their ads.

Mr Moore, meanwhile, has lost many of his conservative backers in the wake of the allegations. The Republican National Committee pulled funding from the candidate on Tuesday, according to Politico. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Cory Gardner said Mr Moore should be expelled from the Senate if he wins. Even Steve Bannon, Mr Moore’s powerful, “anti-establishment” backer, is reportedly thinking of moving on.

According to the Daily Beast, Mr Bannon has vowed to “put him in a grave myself,” if the allegations are true.