Jimmy Kimmel has accepted Roy Moore’s invitation to settle their differences ‘man to man’ after a Twitter feud over allegations of sex abuse against the Senate hopeful.
Kimmel told the audience of his late-night talk show that he will gladly go down to Alabama to discuss ‘Christian values’ with Moore after the Republican issued the challenge online.
An argument erupted between the two after Kimmel sent comedian Tony Barbieri, in character as Moore supporter Jake Byrd, to disrupt one of the candidate’s rallies.
Jimmy Kimmel used the monologue segment of his Thursday night show to address his Twitter fight with Roy Moore, which broke out after he sent a comedian to disrupt one of the Republican’s rallies
The disruption prompted a Twitter back-and-forth between the pair, in which Moore accused Kimmel of attacking Christian values, and Kimmel accused him of having none
After Barbieri had been ejected from the event, Moore took to Twitter where he penned a truculent tweet which read: ‘If you want to mock our Christian values, come down here to Alabama and do it man to man.’
That sparked a back-and-forth with the comedian, who retorted: ‘Let me know when you get some Christian values and I’ll be there!’
Kimmel then used the monologue section of his Thursday night show to address the row, saying: ‘I accept the invitation. I will come down there.
‘What I’m going to do is — I think you’re actually going to like this, Roy. I’m going to come to Gadsden, Ala., with a team of high school cheerleaders, okay?
‘We’ll meet you at the mall. Don’t worry, I can get you in,’ he added, referencing the rumors that Moore was banned from the Gadsden mall because authorities were concerned about his behavior towards young girls.
Kimmel went on: ‘I happen to be a Christian, too. I made my first Holy Communion; I was confirmed; I pray; I support my church; one of my closest friends is a priest; I baptized my children.
‘Christian is actually my middle name. I know that’s shocking, but it’s true.
‘So if you’re open to it, when we sit down, I will share with you what I learned at my church. At my church, forcing yourself on underaged girls is a no-no.
‘Some even consider it to be a sin. Not that you did that, of course. Allegedly.
‘But when you commit a sin at our church, at our church we’re encouraged to confess and ask for forgiveness for the sin.
‘Not to call the women you allegedly victimized liars and damage them even more. To confess. But maybe your church is different. I don’t know. Let’s figure it out.’
Tony Barbieri, in character as Jake Byrd, went to one of the would-be Senator’s rallies to give him faux-support while actually pointing out his flaws
Barbieri was promptly ejected by security, after which Moore started taking shots at Kimmel
Kimmel’s attack came after Moore had accused a conspiracy of ‘liberals, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, and socialists’ of trying to oust him.
‘They’re socialist who want to change our way of life, putting man above god,’ he continued, adding that the ‘Washington establishment’ was also to blame for the attacks against him.
The Washington elite, Moore contended, ‘simply want to keep their jobs to do the same thing, keep everything the same because they don’t want to loose their position, their power, their prestige.’
He added: ‘The attacks have not only been false and numerous, but malicious.’
Moore’s campaign has been wounded by accusations of sexual misconduct, decades ago, made by women who were then teenagers.
The most serious allegation stems from Leigh Corfman, who accuses Moore of inappropriately touching her when she was 14-years-old during the 1970s.
Moore, who vehemently denies the accusation, was 32-years-old at the time of the alleged incident.
On Tuesday, Corfman penned an open letter to Moore, demanding that he stop calling her a liar and raising doubts about the alleged sexual encounter.
‘I demand that you stop calling me a liar and attacking my character,’ Leigh Corfman wrote in the letter, which was published on AL.com Tuesday.
At the same rally, Moore blamed the allegations against him on a conspiracy by ‘liberals, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, and socialists’
Leigh Corfman (present picture left) and three other women accused Moore of sexual harassment and assault in a Washington Post article published earlier this month
‘I am telling the truth, and you should have the decency to admit it and apologize.
‘But now you are attacking my honesty and integrity. Where does your immortality end?’
Corfman and three other women accused Moore of sexual harassment and assault in a Washington Post article published earlier this month.
The 53-year-old told the Post that in 1979 Moore partially undressed both of them, touched her over her underwear and put her hand on his genitals.
His recent campaign stops have aimed at both defending himself against the allegations and rallying his base ahead of the Dec. 12 election.
Newly back on the campaign trail since the uproar the accusations caused, Moore has used campaign stops to rally his evangelical base on social issues, including abortion, juxtaposing his desire to one day outlaw it altogether against Democratic rival Doug Jones support of abortion rights.
Moore’s speech was also interrupted twice on Thursday after a bizarre back-and-forth ensued between a Moore detractor and another man who turned out to be a comedian for a late night talk show, according to AL.com.
Tony Barbieri, who is known for his appearances as the character Jake Byrd on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, posed as a Moore supporter questioning the media criticism against the former Alabama Supreme Court Justice while describing him as a ‘man’s man.’
‘Does that look like the face of a molester?’ Barbieri added. He too was escorted out of the building by law enforcement.