Trump plugs Roy Moore in front of Jeff Flake

by Jordan Fabian - 12/05/17 12:53 PM ET

President Trump on Tuesday plugged Roy Moore’s Senate campaign during a meeting with GOP senators at the White House.

“I think he’s going to do very well,” Trump said at the meeting, where frequent critic Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) was seated to his immediate left.

{mosads}“We don’t want to have a liberal Democrat in Alabama, believe me,” Trump said.

The president also criticized Moore’s Democratic opponent, Doug Jones.

“We want strong borders, we want stopping crime, we want the things we represent,” Trump said, adding that Jones would be “controlled” by Democratic congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Charles Schumer (N.Y.).

Flake, who announced this fall he will not seek reelection and has repeatedly feuded with Trump, has said that a Moore win would be “no victory for the nation.”

Flake and other GOP senators were eating lunch with the president to discuss trade.

The president has decided to throw his full support behind Moore, even though multiple women have accused him of making sexual advances or assaulting them when he was in his 30s and they were teenagers.

In the wake of Trump’s endorsement, Senate leaders have backed off their tough criticism of Moore.

But many rank and file members remain concerned his candidacy could do damage to the GOP heading into the 2018 midterm elections.

Voters in Alabama will go to the polls Dec. 12.

– This story updated at 1:07 p.m.

Tags Chuck Schumer Jeff Flake Nancy Pelosi