Campaign

Ex-RNC chairman rips Trump for backing Roy Moore: US has no moral compass under you

by Mallory Shelbourne - 12/05/17 9:25 AM ET

Michael Steele, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), slammed President Trump on Monday for endorsing Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore.

“Your refusal to acknowledge you’ve just endorsed an alleged pedophile for the sake of ‘a vote’ tells me Roy Moore will be a Trump Puppet and America no longer has a moral compass under your ‘leadership,’” Steele wrote on Twitter.

Your refusal to acknowledge you’ve just endorsed an alleged pedophile for the sake of “a vote” tells me Roy Moore will be a Trump Puppet and America no longer has a moral compass under your “leadership”. https://t.co/iRhJb69rpJ

— Michael Steele (@MichaelSteele) December 4, 2017

Steele was referencing Trump’s Monday morning endorsement of Moore, in which the president said the Senate needs his vote.

{mosads}“Democrats’ refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama,” Trump said.

The president had previously hedged on supporting Moore amid the Alabama Republican’s sexual misconduct scandal, but had maintained that Republicans could not afford to lose the seat.

Moore, who has been embroiled in a sexual misconduct scandal for nearly a month, has remained defiant in the face of accusations, which include that he made inappropriate sexual advances toward teenage girls. Moore has denied the allegation that in 1979 he initiated sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl, but admitted in an interview after the first set of accusations that he may have dated women in their later teens at that point in his life.

Moore’s campaign and the White House on Monday both confirmed that Trump called Moore to express his support for the former judge’s Senate bid.

The RNC, after previously severing fundraising ties with Moore’s campaign, reinstated the partnership on Monday after Trump’s endorsement.

Moore is slated to face off against Democrat Doug Jones on Dec. 12 for the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.