BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — With President Donald Trump standing on the sidelines, Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore and his allies on the ground in Alabama are bracing for an extended conflict — not with Democrats, but with their own party in Washington.

The divide between the state and national GOP reached new depths Thursday after more allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced against Moore, an outspoken Christian conservative. Already, the Republican National Committee, the Senate GOP campaign committee and the party’s leading voices in Congress have called on the 70-year-old former judge to quit the race.

Ever defiant, Moore and his supporters lashed out at his accusers in a Thursday press conference in which he refused to answer any questions.

He called the allegations “unsubstantiated,” ‘’unproven” and “fake.”

“They’re not only untrue, but they have no evidence to support them,” he declared.