Trump issues another de facto endorsement of Roy Moore, railing against his opponent in Sunday morning tweets
- President Donald Trump gave his second implicit endorsement of former judge and Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore on Sunday.
- Trump first said last Tuesday that it would be worse if Democrat Doug Jones were elected.
- Multiple women have accused Moore of sexual misconduct, alleging that he either groped them, molested them, or pursued relationships with them when they were in their teens and he was in his 30s.
President Donald Trump on Sunday issued his second tacit endorsement of Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.
"The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY," Trump tweeted on Sunday morning. "Jones would be a disaster!"
The president followed up in a second tweet 40 minutes later: "I endorsed Luther Strange in the Alabama Primary. He shot way up in the polls but it wasn't enough. Can't let Schumer/Pelosi win this race. Liberal Jones would be BAD!"
He was referring to Democrat Doug Jones, who is running against Moore to fill the Senate seat left open when Trump named Jeff Sessions attorney general.
Moore's campaign has been crippled in recent weeks by a string of sexual misconduct allegations brought by women who say Moore either groped them, molested them, or pursued relationships with them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s.
At least nine women have so far accused Moore of sexually inappropriate behavior. One accuser, Leigh Corfman, alleged that Moore molested her when she was 14 years old. Another, Beverly Young Nelson, said during a press conference that Moore attempted to sexually assault her when she was a 16-year-old waitress.
Moore earned his first de facto endorsement from Trump last Tuesday.
"We don't need a liberal person ... a Democrat" in that seat, Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a Thanksgiving trip to Palm Beach, Florida, adding that Moore "totally denies" the allegations against him.
Fracturing the Republican party
The president also reportedly expressed frustration when his daughter, Ivanka, spoke out against the former judge.
As the allegations against Moore stacked up, Ivanka Trump said there was a "special place in hell for people who prey on children," and that she saw no reason to doubt the victims' accounts.
"Do you believe this?" he asked aides in the Oval Office after his daughter spoke out about Moore, according to The New York Times. Trump also apparently "vented" his annoyance at Ivanka to several advisers.
"The list is growing," the narrator in the ad said. "They were girls when Roy Moore immorally pursued them. Now, they are women, witnesses to us all of his disturbing conduct."
The ad continued: "Will we make their abuser a US senator?" It closed by naming two more of his accusers.
Last week, several of Alabama's most influential newspapers wrote a scathing editorial against him splashed across their front page, titled, "Stand for decency, reject Roy Moore." But he still has the endorsement of much of Alabama's Republican establishment.
Moore denies all the allegations brought against him and denounced them as being part of a liberal smear campaign by the "Obama-Clinton Machine," though his story has shown some inconsistencies.
Trump's defense of Moore, and his continued de facto endorsements, reportedly "blindsided" Republicans in Congress, who have denounced their party's nominee, and said Moore could be expelled from the Senate if the people of Alabama elect him.