Senate Republicans are at odds with President Trump over Roy Moore and the Alabama Senate race.<\/b>
\nSenate Republicans are at odds with President Trump over Roy Moore and the Alabama Senate race.
Trump broke more than a week of silence on Tuesday by raising doubt about the allegations of sexual misconduct facing Moore, contradicting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellAlabama election has GOP racing against the clock McConnell PAC demands Moore return its money Klobuchar taking over Franken’s sexual assault bill MORE (R-Ky.) and other Senate Republicans.
Trump pushed back on a reporter who asked how he felt about electing a \u201cchild molester\u201d by noting that Moore \u201ctotally denies it.\u201d
The Alabama Republican became embroiled in scandal after The Washington Post reported that he initiated a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was 32.
Several other women have come forward to accuse Moore of inappropriate sexual advances that happened when they were teenagers.
\u201cHe says it didn\u2019t happen, \u201dTrump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House. \u201cYou have to listen to him, also.\u201d
That\u2019s not what McConnell wanted to hear, according to sources close to the Senate GOP leadership.
McConnell is worried that Moore will drag down Republican candidates in 2018, which is shaping up to be a tough year for the GOP, and will hurt the party\u2019s brand.
\u201cNot only does Moore really hurt Republicans in the Senate and Republicans nationally, he also does great damage to the conservative movement because now every conservative has to answer for Roy Moore,\u201d said a strategist close to the Senate Republican leadership.
\u201cRoy Moore comes along, claiming to be a conservative, and now all conservatives are saddled with a guy who is known for one thing and that\u2019s assaulting kids,\u201d the source added.
McConnell\u2019s top priority is keeping Republicans in control of the Senate after 2018 and some GOP strategists believe that will be tougher with Moore in the Senate.
McConnell told reporters last month that he keeps in mind the lesson of former Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), who became an embarrassment to the party in 2012 by talking about \u201clegitimate rape.\u201d
Akin not only lost a Missouri Senate seat that the GOP appeared poised to win but he hurt Republican candidates in other states.
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be the most astute to read the exit polls out of New Jersey and Virginia and look at the results around the country to realize women, people of color and voters younger than 40 are moving in a tidal wave against the Republicans. So why would you want, going into 2018, to embrace or be handcuffed to Roy Moore? Why?\u201d said Republican strategist John Weaver.
\u201cAt least McConnell and them are smart enough to get that,\u201d he said.
But Trump appears less concerned with how the Alabama race may affect contests next year in Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania and other battleground states, and more focused on getting his legislative agenda passed over the next 13 months.
„I can tell you one thing for sure, we don’t need a liberal person in there, a Democrat, Jones,“ Trump said this week. „I’ve looked at his record\u2014 it’s terrible on crime. It’s terrible at the borders.\u201d
Trump\u2019s senior advisor, Kellyanne Conway, when asked about Moore on Monday, said: \u201cwe want the votes in the Senate to get this tax bill through.\u201d
State officials say the race won\u2019t likely be certified until Dec. 26, giving Senate Republicans a chance to pass tax reform legislation and a negotiated compromise with the House before Moore or his Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, takes the oath of office.
But there are other priorities for which Trump will need as many Republican votes in the Senate as possible: immigration reform, an infrastructure package, deregulation of the financial services industry, to name a few.
\u201cI think Mitch McConnell would love to figure out a way to kick him off the ballot and the White House is resigned to him not getting off the ballot,\u201d said Jim McLaughlin, a Republican consultant who has done a lot of political work in Alabama.
\u201cMitch McConnell is saying let\u2019s try to get this guy off the ballot. Down in Alabama, the only politician to come out against him is [Sen.] Richard Shelby Richard Craig ShelbyAlabama’s senior senator will ‚probably‘ write in candidate rather than vote for Moore Republican senators wrestle with their Roy Moore problem NIST research: Timing is everything MORE [R-Ala.]. All the other local politicians say let the people decide,\u201d he added.
A second GOP strategist close to Senate GOP leaders, who requested anonymity to speak about the president candidly, said it made sense for Trump not to side with Moore\u2019s accusers because he is facing allegations of inappropriate behavior from at least 13 women.
One accuser, Summer Zervos, who appeared on Trump\u2019s reality television show, \u201cThe Apprentice,\u201d has filed a lawsuit that may come before the New York Supreme Court.
Trump\u2019s comments put pressure on the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which both cut fundraising ties with Moore, to spend some money to help him win the race.
Spokespeople with both committees did not respond to requests for comment about Trump\u2019s statement.
Republicans in Alabama say Trump\u2019s response to the allegations against Moore more closely reflects the sentiments of Alabama voters.
A Raycom News Network poll of 3,000 likely Alabama voters this week found that Moore has a two-point lead over Jones and 48 percent of Republicans do not believe the allegations against Moore.
Some Alabama voters still remember Republican candidate Steve Windom\u2019s race for lieutenant governor in 1998 when he was accused by a former prostitute of rape and sodomy. The accuser, Melissa Myers Bush, later admitted in court that she accepted money to make false allegations.
Windom won the race despite the false charges, becoming the first Republican lieutenant governor of the state in more than a century.
\u201cDonald Trump Donald John TrumpO\u2019Malley tells Dems not to fear Trump Right way and wrong way Five things to know about the elephant trophies controversy MORE and the GOP establishment haven\u2019t been on the same page,\u201d said Jon Gray, a GOP consultant based in Alabama who has polled the Senate race frequently.
Gray says that even though Trump is from New York and has spent a lot of time in Florida, \u201che really does think like Alabamians think.\u201d
While McConnell and other Senate Republicans have been quick to side with the women accusing Moore of misconduct, many Alabama voters are giving him the benefit of the doubt.
The Raycom poll showed that \u201conly 29 percent of the entire state believe all of the allegations,\u201d Gray noted, \u201cthat\u2019s not even one in three and that\u2019s Democrats and Republicans together.\u201d
Trump won Alabama with 62 percent of the vote in last year\u2019s general election and it gave him a dominating victory in the Republican presidential primary. He more than doubled the vote total of his nearest competitor, Sen. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzTexas Republicans slam White House over disaster relief request Dem rep: Trump disaster aid request is ‚how you let America down again‘ Moore endorsements disappear from campaign website MORE (R-Ala.).
Trump ended his thank-you rally tour with a big event in Mobile in December.<\/p>\n

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