Donald Trump endorses Roy Moore, showing us the state of the GOP

Meet the state of the GOP: The president chooses a man accused of sex crimes over a Democrat

Published December 4, 2017 8:18AM (EST)

 Roy Moore ()     (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Roy Moore () (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore has been accused of trying to date a number of teenage girls. One of the now-women said that Moore tried to grope her when she was 14. Residents were aware that Moore would "go and flirt with all the young girls" at a local mall.

Days before the election between Moore and rival Doug Jones, President Donald Trump endorsed the man accused of sexual crimes instead of the Democrat.

Now, Trump and Moore may be two peas in a pod. Trump has been accused of sexual assault or harassment by more than a dozen women. More importantly, neither accused man has apologized or admitted any wrongdoing. Instead, both have found an easy scapegoat in the people who spoke up and the reporters who covered it.

As Heather Digby Parton wrote in March, "being Donald Trump means never having to say you're sorry." And that seems to apply to the president, even when he has previously apologized. Last week, it was reported that Trump was denying that it was his voice on the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape, admitting that he could just grope women. On Sunday night, former co-host Billy Bush admitted that it was Trump saying those words — because Bush was actually there when Trump said them.

Bush gave us a scarier Trumpism, from the man himself: “People will just believe you. You just tell them and they believe you."

That seems to be right. Trump is the president of the United States — safe in his job, for now. Moore is leading in Alabama, where citizens find it easier to pull the lever for a man accused of doing what Moore has done than they find it to pull the lever for a Democrat.

“I don’t think the Lord Jesus could win as a Democrat in Alabama,” a Democratic strategist told The New York Times, which went to the state to see what the general mood was:

But distaste for Mr. Moore, while it may lead people to write in other names or just stay home, is for many still not a good enough reason to vote for a Democrat. And here in Alabama, one of the most inflexibly partisan states in the country, where genuine swing voters are few and politics is approached with the same kind of unshakable team loyalty as college football, this is the central problem with Mr. Jones. He has been trailing in recent polls after a spasm of optimism that he could pull off a stunning upset in a state where Democrats have not won a major statewide race since 2006.

The Times pointed out that one of the biggest sticking points for Alabama Republicans was the policies, namely abortion. Unless a politician came out as anti-choice, they would have trouble winning a statewide election.

And that's the crux of the issue: For Republicans, it's party over people.


By Jeremy Binckes

MORE FROM Jeremy Binckes


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Alabama Donald Trump Doug Jones Republicans Roy Moore