In a move that likely won’t shock anyone who has been following the political news cycle for the last 18 months, President Donald Trump backed an alleged child molester in a move largely perceived as a ploy to strengthen party lines. Friday night, Trump appeared at a rally in Pensacola, Florida to throw his support behind embattled Alabama Senate nominee Roy Moore.
“We can’t afford to have a liberal Democrat, who is completely controlled by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer,” Trump said in reference to Moore’s opponent, Democratic candidate Doug Jones.
“This guy is screaming, ‘We want Roy Moore!’ He’s right,” Trump added, while pointing one of his comically small fingers to acknowledge an attendee who led a pro-Moore chant.
Moore has been particularly on-brand as it relates to gaining Trump’s endorsement. In November, a Washington Post investigation uncovered four women accusing Moore of having romantic or sexual relationships with them when they were teenagers and Moore was in his thirties. Moore has repeatedly denied the allegations, but also later told Fox’s Sean Hannity, he didn’t remember “dating any girl without the permission of her mother.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, Moore’s pedophilia allegations were preceded by a blatantly racist statement in September, when he was asked about the last time he thought America was great.
“I think it was great at the time when families were united,” Moore said, according to a Times report. “Even though we had slavery, they cared for one another…our families were strong, our country had a direction.”
Given the multiple sexual assault allegations Trump faces, his noted soft stance on neo-Nazis, and his transgender military ban, he and Moore appear to be cut from the same cloth. That cloth might just be a white sheet.
