Flake says he won’t back Roy Moore, citing Muslim remark

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) told reporters Thursday that he will not support or endorse Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, citing his past comment that Muslims should not be allowed to serve in Congress.

“A guy who says that a Muslim member of Congress shouldn’t be able to serve, that’s not right,” Flake reportedly said Thursday.

Sen @JeffFlake says he won’t be supporting or endorsing Roy Moore: “A guy who says that a Muslim member of Congress shouldn’t be able to serve, that’s not right.” #ALSen

— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) October 26, 2017

Moore, who is running in the special election to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions, was twice removed from his position as chief justice of Alabama’s Supreme Court, once for refusing to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from courthouse grounds and once for telling lower judges to ignore the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.

In 2006, the former judge took issue with Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the first Muslim in Congress, over his decision to take his oath of office on a Quran instead of a Bible. {mosads}

“In 1943, we would never have allowed a member of Congress to take their oath on ‘Mein Kampf,’ or someone in the 1950s to swear allegiance to the ‘Communist Manifesto,’ ” he wrote at the time. 

Moore has been a point of contention among Republicans since he became the party’s Senate nominee after a hotly contested GOP primary, receiving a mix of endorsements and criticism from lawmakers in his party.

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) this week also slammed Moore for his previous comments on Muslims, noting the United States Constitution stipulates that there is no religious test required to run for congressional office.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) praised Moore this week, calling him a “conservative who will proudly defend Alabama values” in a post on his website.