President Donald Trump on Friday offered his full endorsement of Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore.
Moore has faced allegations of sexual misconduct with girls as young as 14 years old but has painted the accusations as a politically motivated hit job. The White House has said the allegations are "troubling" but never disavowed the Republican candidate, and on Friday Trump went on Twitter to explicitly endorse him.
"The Pelosi/Schumer Puppet Jones would vote against us 100% of the time," Trump said of Moore's Democratic opponent, Doug Jones. "He’s bad on Crime, Life, Border, Vets, Guns & Military. VOTE ROY MOORE!"
Trump framed the election in terms of advancing his agenda, which he said Jones would oppose at every turn, bringing Republicans down to just 51 votes in the Senate.
"LAST thing the Make America Great Again Agenda needs is a Liberal Democrat in Senate where we have so little margin for victory already," Trump said.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/939149296389251072
Alabama voters will cast their votes in the special election, scheduled to fill the vacancy that arose when Jeff Sessions left to become U.S. attorney general, on Dec. 12.
Moore has denied molesting underage girls and Alabamians are sharply divided over how to handle the allegations, as polls show his lead has grown slim. Moore argues the stories coming out are part of a media conspiracy against him, and he has also criticized evidence used against him, such as the inscription on Beverly Young Nelson’s yearbook.
The Republican National Committee stopped funding Moore's campaign after the allegations came out, but it started backing him again this week even as the National Republican Senatorial Committee still refuses to do so. Many Republicans had called for him to step down, but Trump never did, and Moore stayed in the race.
Moore’s Democratic opponent has had trouble gaining traction with voters in Alabama due to his staunchly held pro-choice views. He has opposed laws to restrict abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy, and he has stood by that position, saying he wants to help babies once they are born.
"But I want to make sure people understand, that once a baby is born, I'm going to be there for that child," he told MSNBC. "That's where I become a right-to-lifer."