President Trump on Monday offered his simplest endorsement to date of Roy Moore, the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama who stands accused of making unwanted sexual advances on teenage girls more than three decades ago.
“We need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama,” Trump declared in a tweet, finally supporting someone who many other Republican leaders have shamed for his sexual misconduct.
Trump’s reasoning behind supporting Moore was explained in another tweet: “Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama. We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, Border Wall, Military, Pro Life, V.A., Judges 2nd Amendment and more. No to Jones, a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet!”
Trump has mentioned the Alabama race in recent days, attacking Democratic nominee Doug Jones for being a so-called “democrat puppet,” but has stopped short of formally endorsing Moore.
The Alabama race has drawn a lot of attention and criticize, since the Washington Post first reported accusations by several women for sexual advancement.
At the President’s prompting, the Republican National Committee has now reversed their original position of not supporting Moore.
Trump’s endorsement and the party’s reversal hours later came a day after Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, had stepped back from his earlier criticism of Mr. Moore, saying Alabama voters should decide for themselves on whether to send Mr. Moore to the Senate. Taken together, the week’s developments suggest that Republicans are increasingly confident that Moore is going to defeat Doug Jones in next week’s special election.
This has started a debate on the ethics of the RNC and Trump himself. While all these allegations are just, allegations, they hold a lot of weight, and if found true, could be a horrible reflection on the Republican.
Image Credit: Brynn Anderson/AP
