Updated at 7:57 p.m.: Roy Moore spoke for 29 minutes Monday night in rural northeast Alabama, took no questions from his audience or the media, left the room 20 seconds after he spoke his final word and received two standing ovations.
Before he even spoke a word, the Alabama Senate Republican nominee saw his audience stand and applaud at a community center in Henagar - a one stop light town located about 20 miles northwest of Fort Payne.
"I liked everything he said," said Robert Dunlap of Crossville, who sat in the front row as a crowd of about 200 people squeezed into a room so crowded it would have made a fire marshal wince.
Moore gave no new insight on the allegations that have hounded his campaign for the past 21/2 weeks, saying again the accusations he made unwanted romantic or sexual advances on teenage girls almost 40 years ago are "completely false."
"I don't know any of (the women)," he said.
Meanwhile, he spent much of his speech blasting the policies of his opponent, Democrat Doug Jones, while receiving ovations as he recited points illustrating how his philosophies are different.
He also said that the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign are nothing more than an effort to distract the public from Congress failing to implement President Trump's agenda.
In explaining why he has come under attack, Moore compared it to the Russia probe.
"This is extravagant," Moore said of the "false attacks" made against him - including not only the allegations from the women, he said, but also his family and his Foundation for Moral Law. "this is beyond being attacked for various things, having your family attacked. Politicians stop at nothing. They'll publish false polls - which they are doing today. In trying to distort this, they'll go to false attacks.
"Why are they doing this? I'm going to tell you why they are doing this. They are trying to hide the true issues which affect the people of this country and this state that they want resolved. It's no different than when The Washington Post brought out the Russia investigation at a time when President Trump is trying to get his agenda passed. That's exactly what they are doing. They are taking the attention away and they're not getting anything they are doing. They are taking attention away from the Senate and from the Congress, who can't pass legislation. The people of this country want movement. They don't want false attacks like this. And that's exactly what's happening."
The crowd responded with cheers.
Moore addressed the allegations against him about one-third of the way through his speech.
"Now with just two weeks remaining (before the election), pictures of young children - whose names are not mentioned and I do not know - appear conveniently on the opposition's ads," Moore said. "These allegations are completely false. They are malicious. Specifically, I do not know any of these women nor have I ever engaged in sexual misconduct with anyone."
Moore continued defending himself against the allegations.
"Now with just two weeks remaining (before the election), pictures of young children - whose names are not mentioned and I do not know - appear conveniently on the opposition's ads," Moore said. "These allegations are completely false. They are malicious. Specifically, I do not know any of these women nor have I ever engaged in sexual misconduct with anyone."
Jones has run a campaign ad with photos of Moore's accusers but the names of each woman accompanied their photos.
Moore also said that he has never known victims of sexual abuse to want their pictures circulated in the media.
"As a former judge and prosecutor, I know the seriousness of charges like this - and they should be serious if it happens," he said. "When a young lady is abused - and I've represented many victims on cases such as this - I have not seen one who wants her picture posted on national TV, especially in a political advertisements. This is simply dirty politics."
The crowd -- which received Moore for Senate stickers upon arriving -- again responded with applause.
"That's what they are - they are allegations and they are not true," said Jan Cox of Leesburg.
She spoke outside the community center after the speech, saying that she had voted for Moore every time he's been on the ballot in the past and has heard him speak on multiple occasions.
"You wouldn't convince me that they are (true)," Cox said. "Because of all the years we've known Judge Moore's record and nothing has ever come out like this. They are scared to death and they are pulling all the punches and just seeing what will stick and trying anything they can to defeat this godly man."
Like Cox, Dunlap said after the speech, "I don't believe it. I know several of his neighbors who live down there (in Moore's hometown of Gallant in Etowah County). I just don't think it's there. Why wait 40 years for it to be brought out?
"And be brought in by a lawyer and evidently, she wrote her speech and told her what to say," he said, referring to accuser Beverly Young Nelson, who made her allegations against Moore at a New York press conference accompanied by celebrity attorney Gloria Allred.
Moore concluded his speech by describing the ordeal he's facing as a "spiritual battle." And he promised a ferocious response.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I ask myself why am I put in this position? And I want to tell you. I have vowed, when I get to Washington D.C. as a United States senator, to take a knowledge of the Constitution and to God, upon whom it is founded - and that's it. They don't want to hear it.
"Politicians today are not out to serve. I'm not saying all - there are some good ones. But many of them are confused about the rule of law. They are confused about the Constitution, why it's there, what it's there for. And they certainly don't want to talk about morality. That's why we're having dirtiness in campaigns. Everybody knows I have not run one negative ad. But I'm going to take off the gloves and show the truth in this campaign.
"I'm a fighter and I don't hesitate to say that. I've done that all my life."
Original story: For the first time in nearly two weeks, and with only two weeks remaining until the special election, former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore tonight publicly addressed an audience gathered in support of his Senate run.
The 120 seats quickly filled tonight at the Henagar Event Center in the small town in DeKalb County. Seven television satellite trucks, from local stations as well as NBC News and Fox News, are parked nearby.
Moore did not take questions his DeKalb County campaign chairman said at the beginning of the event. He repeatedly asked for "no outbursts" and threatened people with removal by security.
Outside the center, the chairman grabbed a television camera as a journalist attempted to film Moore's arrival.
Moore took the stage shortly after 6 p.m.
"Well there is 14 days left," Moore said. "We're going to be very busy."
He then went through the steps that led Alabama to this point, beginning with Jeff Sessions' appointment to U.S. Attorney General and Luther Strange to replace him on the U.S. Senate.
"There is an established group of people in Washington that doesn't want change," Moore said. "Lots of money has been spent on this election...They don't want me as a senator."
"We've seen malicious and false attacks," Moore said. "This is corrupt politics."
"This hurts me personally" he said of sexual misconduct allegations. He said the accusations had never arisen in his many years in public life.
"These allegations are false," Moore said, saying he did not know any of the accusers. Moore said he had worked with victims of sexual abuse and none, he said, wanted publicity.
"This is simply dirty politics and it's sign of the immorality of our times...Politicians will stop at nothing to win an election."
Moore said his opponents are releasing "false polls."
Although others have spoken on his behalf publicly and he has met privately with supporters, this is Moore's first public appearance since Nov. 16.
Moore at that time said the allegations from accusers who claimed he either sexually assaulted, harassed or dated them when they were teenagers were politically motivated.
"This is an effort by Mitch McConnell and his cronies to steal this election from the people of Alabama, and they will not stand for it," he said, adding that McConnell needs to "step down" as Senate majority leader.
This appearance came just hours after The Washington Post reported a woman, possibly working with a group seeking to discredit its reporters, shared false claims about Moore, which the Post debunked.
The deadline to register to vote in the Dec. 12 special election is tonight at 11:59 p.m.