--- title: Mitt Romney: 'I Believe' Roy Moore's Accuser description: Mitt Romney condemned the actions of Roy Moore on Twitter, writing that he believes Leigh Corfman and Moore should step aside. canonical: https://time.com/5018755/mitt-romney-roy-moore/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-10T15:58:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:11:51.536Z article:section: Politics og:title: Mitt Romney: 'I Believe' Roy Moore's Accuser og:description: He "is unfit for office and should step aside" og:url: https://time.com/5018755/mitt-romney-roy-moore/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf19a971dd9098f4c/69888011cf40a8c01ec423ff/mitt-romney-speaks-about-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Mitt Romney Campaigns For Michigan GOP Candidates og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mitt Romney: 'I Believe' Roy Moore's Accuser twitter:description: He "is unfit for office and should step aside" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf19a971dd9098f4c/69888011cf40a8c01ec423ff/mitt-romney-speaks-about-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mitt Romney: 'Innocent Until Proven Guilty' Doesn't Apply to Roy Moore  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Nov 10, 2017 3:58 PM UTC  Mitt Romney, delivers remarks during a "CoMITT to the Comeback" rally for Michigan republican candidates in Livonia, MI on Oct. 2, 2014. Mitt Romney, delivers remarks during a "CoMITT to the Comeback" rally for Michigan republican candidates in Livonia, MI on Oct. 2, 2014.Bill Pugliano—Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Nov 10, 2017 3:58 PM UTC Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney took to Twitter Friday to speak out against Roy Moore’s alleged sexual misconduct, writing that he “is unfit for office and should step aside.” Moore, the Republican nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama, has been [accused of initiating romantic or sexual relationships with four women when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s](http://time.com/5017542/roy-moore-sexual-contact-underage-senate/?xid=homepage). These women — including Leigh Corfman, who says she was 14 when a 32-year-old Moore approached her in an Alabama courtroom — [spoke on record to the Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/woman-says-roy-moore-initiated-sexual-encounter-when-she-was-14-he-was-32/2017/11/09/1f495878-c293-11e7-afe9-4f60b5a6c4a0%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.f33439215f19). Romney wrote on Twitter that he “believe\[s\] Leigh Corfman” and that “innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections.” > [](https://twitter.com/MittRomney/status/928999549376528385) The politician’s condemnation of Moore is a marked change from many of his Republican colleagues, who, though they have denounced Moore’s alleged actions, have couched calls for him to step down in language that casts doubt about the veracity of allegations. [Alabama State Auditor Jim Ziegler, meanwhile, defended Moore,](http://time.com/5017940/roy-moore-sexual-contact-underage-jesus-defense-jim-ziegler/?xid=homepage) using the Bible as an example. “Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter,” he[ told the Washington _Examiner_](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/alabama-state-auditor-defends-roy-moore-against-sexual-allegations-invokes-mary-and-joseph/article/2640217) on Thursday. “They became parents of Jesus.” Mitt Romney: 'I Believe' Roy Moore's Accuser ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5018755/mitt-romney-roy-moore/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5018755/mitt-romney-roy-moore/"},"headline":"Mitt Romney: 'Innocent Until Proven Guilty' Doesn't Apply to Roy Moore","datePublished":"2017-11-10T15:58:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:11:51.536Z","description":"Moore was accused of initiating sexual relationships with teenagers","url":"https://time.com/5018755/mitt-romney-roy-moore/","keywords":["politics","mitt romney","sexual harassment","Roy Moore","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf19a971dd9098f4c/69888011cf40a8c01ec423ff/mitt-romney-speaks-about-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf19a971dd9098f4c/69888011cf40a8c01ec423ff/mitt-romney-speaks-about-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mitt Romney Campaigns For Michigan GOP Candidates","caption":"Mitt Romney, delivers remarks during a \"CoMITT to the Comeback\" rally for Michigan republican candidates in Livonia, MI on Oct. 2, 2014.","creditText":"Bill Pugliano—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/politics/","name":"politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5018755/mitt-romney-roy-moore/","name":"Mitt Romney: 'Innocent Until Proven Guilty' Doesn't Apply to Roy Moore"}}]}] ```