MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Standing on the white marble steps of Alabama’s Capitol, Kayla Moore surrounded herself with two dozen other women Friday to defend husband Roy Moore against accusations of sexual misconduct that are dividing Republicans, and women in particular.
“He will not step down. He will not stop fighting for the people of Alabama,” Kayla Moore said at a “Women for Moore” rally. Acting as her husband’s lead defender, she lashed out at the news media and thanked people who were sticking behind her husband. “To the people of Alabama, thank you for being smarter than they think you are,” Moore said.
Not everyone is sticking with Roy Moore, however, and certainly not all women.
“I was going to vote for him. I was going to be one of his voters. I just don’t know that I can vote for him anymore,” said Laura Payne, a Trump delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention.
WASHINGTON — “You can do anything,” Donald Trump once boasted, speaking of groping and kissing unsuspecting women.
Maybe he could, but not everyone can.
The candidate who openly bragged about grabbing women’s private parts — but denied he really did so — was elected president months before the cascading sexual harassment allegations that have been toppling the careers of powerful men in Hollywood, business, the media and politics. He won even though more than a dozen women accused him of sexual misconduct, and roughly half of all voters said they were bothered by his treatment of women, according to exit polls.
Now, as one prominent figure after another takes a dive, the question remains: Why not Trump?
“A lot of people who voted for him recognized that he was what he was, but wanted a change and so they were willing to go along,” theorizes Jessica Leeds, one of the first women to step forward and accuse Trump of groping her, decades ago on an airplane.
CHICAGO — The Rev. Jesse Jackson disclosed publicly Friday that he has been seeking outpatient care for two years for Parkinson’s disease and plans to “dedicate” himself to physical therapy to slow the progress of the disease.
In a letter to supporters, the 76-year-old civil rights icon said family and friends noticed a change in him about three years ago, and he could no longer ignore symptoms of the chronic neurological disorder that causes movement difficulties.
“Recognition of the effects of this disease on me has been painful, and I have been slow to grasp the gravity of it,” he wrote. “For me, a Parkinson’s diagnosis is not a stop sign but rather a signal that I must make lifestyle changes and dedicate myself to physical therapy.”
Jackson, who declined to be interviewed, also released a letter from Northwestern Medicine confirming his diagnosis and care. He vowed to use his voice to help find a cure for the disease.
FRENCH CAMP, Calif. — A man who acknowledges killing a woman nearly 40 years ago said Friday that he is surprised he was able to walk out of a Hawaii psychiatric hospital and make it to California before being captured.
Randall Saito told The Associated Press in a jail near Stockton, California, that he acquired “a pretty good” fake ID.
“I was surprised that it actually worked,” the 59-year-old said before a court appearance. “I was expecting almost every leg of the way, I was expecting them to be right around the corner just going to nab me.”
Saito left Hawaii State Hospital in suburban Honolulu on Sunday, got a taxi to the airport and took a charter plane to Maui. From there, he caught another flight to San Jose. He insisted that he only escaped to show that he should be free.
From Associated Press