Roy Moore's wife: We're not anti-Semitic because we have a Jewish lawyer

Roy Moore's wife said, "One of our attorneys is a Jew" in response to charges of anti-Semitism against the campaign

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published December 12, 2017 7:54AM (EST)

 (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Kayla Moore, the wife of Alabama's Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, tried to defend her husband from accusations of anti-Semitism on Monday night by pointing out that one of their attorneys in Jewish.

"Fake news would tell you that we don’t care for Jews. I tell you all this because I’ve seen it all and I just want to set the record straight while they’re all here," Moore declared in a speech.

She added, "One of our attorneys is a Jew. We have very close friends that are Jewish and rabbis and we also fellowship with them."

While it's unclear what prompted Moore to defend her husband against charges of anti-Semitism, she was most likely referring to criticisms of one of his statements about billionaire liberal philanthropist George Soros. After accusing Soros of trying to help former felons vote in Alabama and accusing him of promoting a nebulously "sexual" agenda, Moore declared, "No matter how much money he’s got, he’s still going to the same place that people who don’t recognize God and morality and accept his salvation are going. And that’s not a good place."

Moore's comment raised eyebrows.

Kayla Moore also defended her husband against possible accusations of racism using a similar logic, according to CNN.

She told her audience, "Fake news would also have you think that my husband doesn't support the black community. Yet my husband appointed the very first black marshal to the Alabama Supreme Court, Mr. Willie James. When he first took office as the chief justice many years ago he brought with him three people from Etowah County. Two were black, and one of them is here tonight."


By Matthew Rozsa

Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer at Salon. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012 and was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022.

MORE FROM Matthew Rozsa


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

Alabama Senate Election 2017 Anti-semitism Kayla Moore Roy Moore