President Donald Trump is reportedly considering using the power of the White House to help get Senate hopeful Roy Moore over the finish line in Alabama — although it seems he will not travel to the state itself.
Politico reports that the White House is “considering flooding the state with robo-calls, emails, and text messages in an offensive designed to activate the president’s supporters on Moore’s behalf,” but there are no plans for Trump to visit the Yellowhammer State.
Trump did not back Moore during the primary, choosing, instead, to campaign for his establishment opponent, Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL). During that primary race, Trump admitted he “might have made a mistake” in wading in and said he would campaign for Moore if he won.
Moore won the race comfortably, and Trump has apparently been reluctant to give an explicit endorsement of the Republican — who has been dogged by a number of accusations of sexual impropriety from decades ago.
Trump has, however, taken a number of shots at Moore’s Democratic opponent Doug Jones.
“I’ve looked at his record. It’s terrible on crime. It’s terrible on the border. It’s terrible on the military,” Trump said outside the White House ahead of the Thanksgiving break. “I can tell you for a fact, we do not need somebody that’s going to be bad on crime, bad on borders, bad with the military, bad for the Second Amendment.”
Trump also cast doubt on the accusations against Moore: “He totally denies it. He says it didn’t happen.”
This week on Twitter, Trump noted that he backed Strange in the primary but then listed why he believes Jones would be bad for Alabama:
The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY. Jones would be a disaster!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2017
I endorsed Luther Strange in the Alabama Primary. He shot way up in the polls but it wasn’t enough. Can’t let Schumer/Pelosi win this race. Liberal Jones would be BAD!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2017
A number of polls have shown Moore has recovered his lead since the emergence of the allegations against him. But with less than two weeks to go until the election, increasing pressure from the White House may help Moore secure victory.
It appears that the White House is still weighing its options for deeper action and judging the state of the race. Politico reports that an administration-sanctioned super PAC, America First Action, is polling in the state as it considers hitting the state with the last-minute barrage. It also reports that top-level officials are watching the race closely:
The White House is consulting an array of polling numbers as it ponders its next move. It has been reviewing data from the Republican National Committee, which has been conducting voter analysis. Several administration officials said they had seen polling showing Jones, who once had a substantial lead, beginning to stagnate in recent days. Public surveys show a close race.
Advisers told the outlet they are wary of a “full embrace” of Moore and that any robocalls would likely attack Jones while staying largely silent on Moore.
Adam Shaw is a Breitbart News politics reporter based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY.
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