| Removing Any Qualifications, Trump Endorses Roy Moore |
| Written by <a href="index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=39923"><span class="small">Scott Detrow, NPR</span></a> |
| Monday, 04 December 2017 09:36 |
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Detrow writes: "Trump's support for Moore comes despite numerous women who say that Moore pursued relationships and sexual encounters with them when he was in his thirties and they were teenagers. One woman told the Washington Post that she was 14 when Moore initiated sexual contact with her."
Removing Any Qualifications, Trump Endorses Roy Moore04 December 17
"Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama," Trump tweeted Monday morning. "Putting Pelosi/Schumer Liberal Puppet [Doug] Jones into office in Alabama would hurt our great Republican Agenda." Trump's support for Moore comes despite numerous women who say that Moore pursued relationships and sexual encounters with them when he was in his thirties and they were teenagers. One woman told the Washington Post that she was 14 when Moore initiated sexual contact with her. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., and many other Republicans in Washington have said they believe the accusations against Moore and called on him to drop out. Colorado Republican Cory Gardner, who is heading Senate Republicans' 2018 campaign efforts, has said that if Moore wins he should be expelled from the Senate. Trump has taken another path, all but endorsing Moore last month when he told reporters that Moore "totally denies it. He says it didn't happen." That's despite an initial White House statement calling on Moore to step aside from the race, "if these allegations are true." The president has also lambasted Democrat Doug Jones, Moore's opponent. Trump had endorsed Moore before the scandal, after he won the September primary over incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, whom the president campaigned for. Trump briefly floated the possibility to reporters that he might campaign with Moore in Alabama, but the White House later clarified that Trump would not make any campaign appearances in the state. However, Trump will hold his own rally Friday night in Pensacola, Fla., which falls within the Mobile, Ala., media market. Moore has been touting Trump's tacit support, and was quick to embrace his full endorsement this morning.
The accusations against Moore — and national Republicans' near total-desertion of his campaign, apart from Trump — has made the Alabama Senate race unusually competitive. No Democrat has been elected to the Senate from Alabama since 1992. Jones, a longtime federal prosecutor, led Moore by three points in a recent Washington Post poll, though that figure was within the survey's margin of error. Another poll over the weekend from CBS News/YouGov had Moore leading by six points, and showed the vast majority of GOP voters in Alabama believe the allegations against Moore are false. If Jones defeats Moore next week, Republicans' Senate majority would narrow to just 51-49. Majority Leader McConnell had previously called on Moore to drop out, saying, "I believe the women." Over the weekend, McConnell said simply that it's up to the voters of Alabama. |
bit more than a week ahead of Alabama's special Senate election, President Trump is removing any lingering doubts that he fully backs embattled Republican Roy Moore's campaign.