Doug Jones slams opponent Roy Moore: 'Men who hurt little girls should go to jail'

In the final week of the Alabama Senate race, Democrat Doug Jones has increasingly hammered his opponent, Republican Roy Moore, over the sexual misconduct allegations that have shaken up the special election.

"I believe women are every bit as capable as men, that they deserve to be elected to public office, and I damn sure believe and have done my part to ensure that men who hurt little girls should go to jail ― not to the U.S. Senate," Jones told a crowd in Birmingham, Alabama, on Tuesday.

Moore is facing accusations from multiple women who say he pursued them when he was in his 30s and they were in their teens. Leigh Corfman was just 14, she told The Washington Post, when she alleges Moore sexually assaulted her.

Nevertheless, President Donald Trump publicly endorsed Moore on Monday. In recent days, some other Republicans ― including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) ― have been tempering their previous criticisms of the GOP candidate.

Jones urged Alabama voters on Tuesday to put aside partisanship and look at the situation "as parents, as grandparents and not through the jaded lens of politics."

"This is about decency, not a political party, and anyone who thinks otherwise should be ashamed. It is the people of Alabama, the parents of Alabama, who will hold Roy Moore accountable. This is about Alabama's honor and doing what is right. Nothing more. And certainly nothing less," Jones said.

In recent weeks, Jones has been airing ads that highlight the Moore scandal. In a very red state, he needs to convince Republicans who are disgusted with the allegations to either switch and vote Democratic or stay home on Election Day.

On Tuesday, Jones told the Birmingham crowd of his support for the Second Amendment and threw in a jab at Moore. He said that when they see him with a gun, "I'll be climbing in and out of a deer blind ... not prancing around on a stage in a cowboy suit" ― a reference to an earlier stunt at a rally when Moore, sporting a cowboy hat and a leather vest, pulled out a gun onstage.

Additionally, Jones talked about the best-known part of his biography, when he was a U.S. attorney and prosecuted two Ku Klux Klan members who were responsible for a 1963 bombing that killed four young black girls and injured 20 others at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.

"I understood that as an Alabaman and as an American, it would likely be the most important task that I would ever undertake," he said.

And he quoted from his closing argument to that jury: "It's never too late for the truth to be told. It's never too late for a man to be held accountable for his crimes."

• This article originally appeared on HuffPost.