Donald Trump still has love for accused child molester and possible new-old candidate for a U.S. Senate from Alabama Roy Moore, but he’s warning Moore away from the ballot in 2020.
In a set of tweets (what else?) Wednesday, the occupant of the Oval Office begged Moore to think of the bigger picture—Trump’s legacy, the Associated Press reports.
“I have NOTHING against Roy Moore,” Trump tweeted. (Yup, who cares about all those nasty allegations Moore trolled for teenagers when he was in his 30s?)
“... But,” Trump continued, “... If Alabama does not elect a Republican to the Senate in 2020, many of the incredible gains that we have made during my Presidency may be lost ...”
See? The bigger picture. Trump’s big picture.
Moore—a former Alabama Supreme Court justice whose dreams of going to the big dance in D.C. were dashed two years ago when black people saved the day and cast their ballots for Democrat Doug Jones—hasn’t formally announced his candidacy. He says he’ll decide in June.
But a poll among Alabama Republicans shows Moore to be the overwhelming favorite to win the nomination for the Senate seat, despite his yet putting his hat in the ring.
Moore garnered support from 27 percent of ‘Bama GOP voters in a Mason-Dixon poll released last month (pdf), nicely ahead of the next three Republicans on the list: Alabama Reps. Mo Brooks (18 percent), Bradley Byrne (13 percent) and Gary Palmer (11 percent).
And so, with that, Moore says he’ll keep his own counsel as to whether he’ll run for the Senate again, telling the AP, “Everybody knows” he can win.