THEODORE, Alabama — At a rally in a small church outside Mobile in Theodore, Judge Roy Moore—the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate—fought off allegations against him and rallied supporters to his side with two weeks to go in the race.
Moore used the speech to frame the election as bigger than between himself and his radical Democrat opponent Doug Jones—whose leftist positions he exposed from the pulpit—and to set his campaign on track for the final two weeks of campaigning ahead of the Dec. 12 general election.
Moore opened his speech saying, “On January 17, 1776, George Washington led the troops across New Jersey. The famed Thomas Payne wrote these words: ‘These are the times that try men’s souls,’”
Moore said there is a “battle raging before us” and Payne’s words fit it: “These are the times that try men’s souls,” he said. “My soul is being tried and many of you have souls that are being tried. But more important than that, this is a time where the soul of this nation is being tried. In November of 2016, we elected a new president: Donald Trump.”
The crowd went wild.
“People were tired of the same old thing in politics,” Moore said. “They wanted a change. They wanted to move forward, but they also wanted to keep what they knew was true. They wanted to keep the standards and principles on which this nation was founded.”
After the inauguration of President Trump, Moore said, “demonstrations all across this land kept the news media busy for a little while.”
“When that wore out, they changed to the Russia investigation, led by the Washington Post to divert attention away from what the people of this country wanted to see,” Moore said. “Then I came along.”
The crowd cheered again. Moore went on:
When I got into this senatorial race, I never dreamed it would take on the meaning that it has. It is very important in this country. It may not be as important as President Trump’s election, I admit that. But I’ll tell you it’s watched nationally. It’s watched internationally to see where the people of this country, particularly the people of the state of Alabama, go with the first senator that’s elected after the election of Donald Trump because as we know Donald Trump is slacking—not because of his will. He wants to do things. He wants to get things going. But he’s reaching a block. A blockade, if you will, from Washington, D.C., and he’ll continue to face that unless we realize that we can make a difference. It’s a special election because it’s a prelude to the 2018 elections of senators across this country. People like you are just as qualified as every guy up there. Many people across our country are ready to see change, but many of them don’t know if they can contend with the strenuous campaign of pressure that I’ve faced.
While many cannot, he said, “Christians have a special courage,” and he expects if he is successful more candidates like him will rise up across the country. He continued:
There are immense amounts of money being spent in this election. Over $30 million, as one TV outlet estimated, was spent in the primary and the runoff. And I am told that now I am being outspent 10 to 1 at this late stage. We got opposition from both parties… Not only am I being opposed by the Democrats who push a liberal agenda, I’m being opposed by the Washington establishment who don’t want to change what’s going on. But I’m still winning, even though they tried unsuccessfully to [stop me].
The crowd cheered again. Moore said:
When I say ‘they,’ who are ‘they’? They are liberals, who don’t want conservative values. They are Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender. They are socialists who want to change our way of life and putting man above God and believe that government is God. They’re the Washington establishment that simply wants to keep their jobs, do the same thing, keep everything the same, so they don’t lose their position, their power, their prestige.
Moore then decried the attacks against him:
The attacks have not only been false, they’ve been numerous and malicious. They’ve attacked me for my judicial positions, my property taxes, my salary at the Foundation for Moral Law—they said I made a million dollars. I didn’t. Sexual immorality now. The last one probably hurts more than all, because you see I have five granddaughters. I have one daughter. I have one wife, one mother, and two sisters—and it hurts them to think and see what I am being charged with.
Moore pointed to a recent report on One America News Network (OANN) that cast serious doubt on the allegations against him.
OANN, he said, “today published the first I’ve seen contradicting the agenda of the other side.”
“They have shown how drugs are at the base of it,” Moore said. “I prosecuted drugs when I was deputy District Attorney. I have a history of standing against drugs. They have one individual who’s a drug dealer that I put in jail who’s part of this conspiracy. These things are being brought out.”
WATCH: ONE AMERICA NEWS NETWORK INVESTIGATION INTO MOORE ACCUSERS
After telling another story for a bit, Moore returned to debunking the allegations against him.
“It may seem odd, after having served the public and the state of Alabama for 40 years and my military service in the Army, going back beyond at West Point, never once has anyone ever stated anything like what we’ve heard in the last three and a half weeks,” Moore said.
At that point, a leftist protester who infiltrated the church started shouting at Moore. “But the whole town says you did it!” the man yelled. “The entire town? All the girls are lying?”
The man was shouted down by the entire church and then escorted out by police officers on site.
“Get on out of here!” another man yelled at the lone unruly protester as police escorted the disrupter out. “You ought to be ashamed. You’re in a Church. You ought to be ashamed to even be from here! Get on out of here!”
Then, the church’s pastor retook the microphone for a moment before handing it back to Moore. “I must remind everyone present this is a worship service,” the pastor said. “And by the way it is illegal to disturb a worship service.”
The crowd cheered. “The next one who disturbs the service will be turned over to the police,” the pastor added to resounding cheers. “As the pastor of this church, I’m saying we’re going to do things peacefully and in order. If you love Roy Moore or you hate Roy Moore, listen.”
The crowd went wild, giving Moore a rousing ovation again as he retook the stage. Moore said:
I understand how people can be deceived by lies. I understand that. And I don’t hate them. I just want to state my position. Forty years of public service—fifty years including the military—never once has anything like this been mentioned. It’s odd. It’s odd that in five statewide campaigns and three county campaigns where many of these people come from, never once has it been brought up. It’s odd that investigators who investigated me out of the District Attorney’s office, the Attorney General’s office, the JIC—Judicial Inquiry Commission—and the state ethics commission and not one word has come up about sexual impropriety. In fact, the JIC down in Montgomery actually sent people up to go over all the attorneys in Etowah County in 1996. For about a year and a half, they searched around asking everybody if I’d ever done anything wrong. Not one mention. When you run a statewide campaign, they do opposition research. They go back and try to find everything that’s ever been done or said about you. No mention of sexual impropriety. Now, with less than two weeks remaining, I see pictures of young girls on my opponent’s political advertisements. I want to tell you, as a former prosecutor, Judge, and Chief Justice, I’ve handled numerous rape cases and sexual misconduct cases. I have never had one mention in any of those cases who would come after 40 years—only two and a half weeks out from a general election in my opponent’s advertisements. That just doesn’t happen. That’s not what it’s about. Let me just state once again: I do not know any of these women, did not date any of these women, have not engaged in any sexual misconduct with anyone. This is not only odd that something like this occurred, it’s simply dirty politics.
Moore said the reason why Trump has been hit with the Russia investigation—and why the Washington Post hit him and Trump with evidence-free allegations of sexual misconduct—is part of an effort by the Washington establishment, of which the Post is a part, to distract from the issue-based conversations Americans want to have. Moore continued:
They want to hide the true issues. That’s why you see the Washington Post bring out the Russia investigation when the people want to know about immigration, about healthcare, about taxes, about many other things. But they want to talk about something else. That’s true in this case. But they also want to conceal their own position, which is against the conservative values on which Alabama stands.
Moore turned to the Economist interview that Doug Jones, his radical leftist Democrat opponent, did recently and quoted from it—particularly the part where Jones would not guarantee Alabamians that he would not take away their guns, culture, and religion.
“I’m going to read every part of his answer,” Moore said, before he did.
After he finished, Moore ripped Jones to shreds. “Let me translate to you what he just told you: If your Christian culture does not accept abortion, same-sex marriage, sodomy, transgender rights in schools and in the military, then by definition you are discriminatory and will not be protected—nor will your right to own and carry guns be secured.”
He continued by further exposing Jones:
My opponent is not only a [Bill] Clinton appointed, but a Barack Obama delegate. In 2008, Barack Obama speaking his opinion accused people who opposed his agenda of being, and I’m quoting, ‘they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.’ Well, I’ll tell you what. Christians don’t hate people. But they do hate sin…. Christians don’t cling to their Bibles because they’re bitter. Christians cling to their Bibles because it’s the word of God. And Christians do believe in the right to keep and bear arms, because it’s a God-given right recognized in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Moore further highlighted the differences between him and Jones on many key issues facing the country:
Between myself and my opponent, there are many differences that the people of this state need to know. I voted for Donald Trump, and I voted for Jeff Sessions—or would have voted for Jeff Sessions to be in that position [Attorney General]. He voted against Donald Trump, and publicly stated he would not have voted for Jeff Sessions…. On Obamacare, I would repeal Obamacare. He would enlarge it—something that’s already proven to be a failure, he would enlarge. Military readiness, as a graduate of the United States Military Academy, as a Vietnam Commander in 1972, I know about the military. I would strengthen the military. Transgender troops, he favors—and he opposes President Trump’s ban on transgender troops… On immigration, I would vote for the RAISE Act to restore American immigration to a secure amount—it would reduce the number of immigrants and it would also base it on merit-based. He would just have the most liberal immigration policy you see. On abortion, I would not fund Planned Parenthood. I would fight to overturn Roe v. Wade because I believe it is an unconstitutional decision because I believe there is no such thing that establishes such a precedent. He would vote for more abortion.
Moore also repeated his promise to fight for impeachment of judges who engage in judicial supremacy or overreach, to which the crowd cheered.
“It’s very important in this day and time because we’re about to see probably two, very likely one very soon, be replaced on the United States Supreme Court,” Moore continued. “And as we know, we’ve placed judges on a pedestal on which they do not belong. They think they can change the Constitution, make law, and the United States Congress needs to stand up and stop this apostasy.”
Moore rounded out his speech by again framing this as a larger battle for the nation’s soul.
“You know, again, the battle does rage,” Moore said, quoting Bible verses for the next minute—intermixing his analysis about how he’s learned much since getting engaged in the national political war.
“It’s easier to talk about than to do,” Moore said. “I don’t wish this on anyone. If I would have known the lies and deceit and the things I would face in this campaign, I probably would not have gotten into it—probably. But when you get into these things, you have no choice but to live these things out.”
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