Ted Cruz defends Roy Moore and criticizes Al Franken in the same breath

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said he’ll work with Roy Moore, who’s been accused of child molestation, if Moore is elected to the Senate. But Cruz condemned Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who’s been accused of groping multiple women.

When Fox News’ Neil Cavuto asked Cruz Thursday if Moore should be thrown out of the Senate if elected, Cruz said “of course not,” adding, “We’ve got to respect the will of the voters.”

“If the voters of Alabama choose to elect him, for some Washington politicians to say, ‘We don’t care what the voters say,’ I think that would be a mistake,” Cruz said.

When Cavuto then asked Cruz about Franken, the Texas senator chuckled, calling the allegations “serious.”

“There’s a rich irony watching all the Democrats backpeddling and trying to justify now their colleague who you’ve got, I think the count is five women who allege groping,” Cruz said. “That’s a serious, serious problem, and I think it’s something that we’re going to see debated quite a bit more.”

Senate Republicans have had mixed reactions to the Moore news. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who recently said he would not run for re-election because of concerns about the state of the GOP, said he “would run to the polling place to vote for the Democrat” over Moore. Others, like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), have pushed to further examine the accusations against Moore.

“To expel somebody, don’t you have to listen to both sides of the story?” Graham told reporters earlier this month.

Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, has called on Franken to resign, while leading Senate Democrats have called for the ethics committee to investigate Franken’s actions. Franken said earlier this month he would cooperate with an investigation.

  • This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

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