The political world was rocked earlier this week by an investigative report from the Washington Post. The bombshell story gave a voice to four women who accused Roy Moore, Alabama’s Republican candidate for the Senate, of engaging sexual contact while they were under the age of 18.

This is particularly noteworthy given Moore’s reputation as a Christian social Conservative, who is strongly opposed to homosexuality, partially on the grounds that homosexuality is harmful to minors.

This report has led to a slew of retracted endorsements from Republican officials, as well as calls to drop out from the many more who stayed silent or refused to endorse him after his primary win over incumbent Senator Luther Strange. However, even before the allegations broke, Roy Moore was clearly unfit for office.

According to ABC News, Moore’s history of outrageous statements include claiming Sharia law was in effect in Illinois, and saying the 9/11 terrorist attacks were God’s reckoning upon America for the sins of homosexuality and abortion.

As noted in The Hill, Moore has also praised Russia’s strongman leader Vladimir Putin, called America “the focus of evil in the modern world,” perpetuated the birther conspiracy theory and, perhaps most abhorrently, stated that Muslims should not be allowed to serve in Congress.

Moore’s foundation, the Foundation for Moral Law, has also been embroiled with scandal. Paul Blumenthal of the Huffington Post said the group hosted neo-Confederate groups on multiple occasions, accepted donations from a neo-Nazi group and paid Moore over $1 million more than it reported in tax returns.

Moreover, the self-proclaimed constitutionalist has been removed twice from Alabama’s Supreme Court for violating judicial ethics and issuing orders that violate federal law.

This is only breaking the surface of Moore’s controversial history; there’s a veritable iceberg of information making it clear Moore is not fit for any sort of public office. To put it simply, Moore is not a Christian Conservative; he is an extremist, a hypocrite, a charlatan and a bigot of the highest order.

In the past, Alabamians have recognized Moore’s problems. In his party’s gubernatorial primaries in 2006 and 2010, Moore never got more than a third of the vote, and in 2012 Moore barely squeaked by his Democratic opponent in the race for Alabama’s Supreme Court, even as Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney cruised to a landslide statewide win.

Unfortunately, the emergence of President Donald Trump, who also faced controversy over alleged sexual crimes, has awakened a dormant cancer in the Republican Party that led Moore to win the Republican senatorial primary over Strange.

Moore was endorsed by almost every anti-establishment individual and group during and after the primary, among them being senators Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and Rand Paul. Moore was also endorsed by Breitbart executive Steve Bannon and conservative personalities Erick Erickson, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter, who is also a contributor for the white nationalist website VDARE.

Moore’s rise lies squarely on their shoulders, and they should be ashamed of themselves for propping up a man who was clearly unfit even before the recent revelations.

Of course, this is simply the latest in a long line of moronic candidacies propped up by this “anti-establishment” establishment, including infamous Senate failures like Christine O’Donnell, Sharron Angle, Richard Mourdock, Ken Buck, Todd Akin and Joe Miller.

It is time for Republicans to take responsibility and demand Moore step down. Make it clear that if he refuses to step down, the party will drop support. Make it clear that if he somehow wins, he will immediately be expelled from the Senate – something that can be done with only a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Make it clear that the Republican Party will never, ever let him anywhere near public office ever again.

It is not just our duty as Conservatives and as Christians to police our own; it’s our solemn duty as citizens to protect the integrity of public office and keep those out of office who don’t belong. We can’t control what Democrats do, but we can – and should – control what we do.

Eric Cunningham is a senior journalism major from Hickory, North Carolina. You can follow him on Twitter at @DEricCunningham.

Photo by: C-Span, Wikimedia Commons