--- title: Moore Attorney Alludes to Ali Velshi's 'Background' on MSNBC description: On MSNBC's Velshi & Rhule, Roy Moore attorney Trenton Garmon said Ali Velshi's "background" might help him understand dating teen girls canonical: https://time.com/5025751/trenton-garmon-ali-velshi-background/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-15T18:57:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:15:22.918Z article:section: Politics og:title: Roy Moore's Attorney Said an MSBNC Host's Cultural 'Background' Could Explain Dating Teens og:description: He's Canadian og:url: https://time.com/5025751/trenton-garmon-ali-velshi-background/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt21b094eab1d115b8/6988e5f08fd2eed3fb359a63/ali-velshi-msnbc.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3600 og:image:height: 2025 og:image:alt: The Hollywood Reporter's 35 Most Powerful People In Media 2017 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Roy Moore's Attorney Said an MSBNC Host's Cultural 'Background' Could Explain Dating Teens twitter:description: He's Canadian twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt21b094eab1d115b8/6988e5f08fd2eed3fb359a63/ali-velshi-msnbc.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Roy Moore's Attorney Said an MSBNC Host's Cultural 'Background' Could Explain Dating Teens > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Nov 15, 2017 6:57 PM UTC  Ali Velshi attends The Hollywood Reporter's 35 Most Powerful People In Media 2017 on April 13, 2017 in New York City. Ali Velshi attends The Hollywood Reporter's 35 Most Powerful People In Media 2017 on April 13, 2017 in New York City. Sylvain Gaboury—Patrick McMullan via Getty Image  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Nov 15, 2017 6:57 PM UTC Roy Moore’s attorney Trenton Garmon suggested on air that an MSNBC host’s “background” might help him understand why someone would date teenage girls. Garmon appeared on MSNBC’s _Velshi & Ruhle_, which is hosted by Ali Velshi and Stephanie Ruhle, to discuss the scandal surrounding his client, who has been accused of having sexual or romantic relations with at least five teenage girls, one as young as 14, while he was in his 30s. Moore has denied some accusations — including those brought by Beverly Young Nelson, [who says Moore sexually assaulted her in a vehicle when she was 16](http://time.com/5021756/roy-moore-alabama-senate-race-fifth-accuser-beverly-young-nelson/) — and dismissed others, saying that he does not remember dating teenagers or [dating any woman “without the permission of her mother.”](http://time.com/5019836/roy-moore-dating-teenagers-alabama-senate-sean-hannity/) In addressing the latter comment on MSNBC, Garmon deferred to cultural differences before mentioning “Ali’s background.” “What does Ali’s background have to do with dating a 14-year-old?” Ruhle asked. “In other countries, there’s arrangements through parents for what we would refer to as consensual marriage,” Garmon eventually answered. 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