Mainstream media journalists on Twitter Tuesday quickly looked to blame President Trump for Republican Judge Roy Moore’s in the Alabama Senate race — a narrative likely to become the next mainstream media talking point.
While some journalists and commentators took aim at Breitbart News Executive Chairman and former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon for his backing of Moore, others also directed their fire at President Trump.
NBC’s Chuck Todd quickly fired off a tweet highlighting that Trump was 0-2 when it came to backing candidates in the Alabama race. Trump had backed Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) in the Republican primary.
McKay Coppins at the Atlantic appeared to mock Moore supporters for singing hymns, and also doubled down on the criticism of Trump — despite the fact that Trump largely stayed out of the race itself, and backed Moore late in the race.
The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs also noted Trump has backed a losing candidate twice in Alabama, while CNBC’s John Harwood described Trump as a “giant anvil” on the backs of Republicans.
At around the same time, the Washington Post‘s Philip Bump was tweeting similar thoughts, noting that Trump had “struck out” twice in a deep-red state.
Others were apparently disappointed by President Trump’s mostly magnanimous tweet congratulating Jones on his victory. CNN’s Maeve Reston said she found Trump’s fairly bland tweet “confusing” and predicted theatrics come Wednesday morning.
CNN”s Jim Acosta, an outspoken opponent of Trump, cited sources close to the White House describing the defeat as “devastating” for Trump.
He also blamed Trump for endorsing and campaigning for Moore.
Earlier, he had cited similar anonymous sources, saying that a Jones win would mean Trump would be “wounded” going into the midterms.
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, meanwhile, used the defeat to send a warning to all Senate Republicans:
Adam Shaw is a Breitbart News politics reporter based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY.