Alabama voters elected the Democrat and rejected accused pedophile Roy Moore on Tuesday night, and Donald Trump is already trying to distance himself from the defeat.
Doug Jones shocked the world last night when he was declared the victor in a race that most believed Republicans would run away with, despite the sexual assault and child molestation allegations against their candidate.
Of course, Moore wants a recount. However, since the margin of victory is over 20,000 votes, a mandatory recount is unlikely.
Shortly after most networks declared Jones, the winner, Trump congratulated Jones but blamed the loss on the 22,819 write-in votes.
Congratulations to Doug Jones on a hard fought victory. The write-in votes played a very big factor, but a win is a win. The people of Alabama are great, and the Republicans will have another shot at this seat in a very short period of time. It never ends!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2017
It is unlikely that all 22,819 write-in votes were from Republican voters. The fact is that Moore lost in one of the reddest states in America, but Democratic voters were energized and minority voters came out in force. Jones was also a good candidate.
On Wednesday morning, Trump weighed in on the Senate race, distancing himself from the loss by invoking Luther Strange’s name.
The reason I originally endorsed Luther Strange (and his numbers went up mightily), is that I said Roy Moore will not be able to win the General Election. I was right! Roy worked hard but the deck was stacked against him!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2017
While it is true that the president endorsed Luther Strange in the primary, he cannot hide from the fact that he ultimately supported Moore in the election, even going so far as recording a robocall asking Alabama voters to get to the polls and vote for Roy Moore.
Trump also sounds like he is suggesting that the race was rigged with his “deck was stacked against him” comment.
The reality is, Moore ran a terrible campaign and could not shake the numerous sexual assault accusations facing him. He clumsily denied the allegations and called the women liars even though the evidence supported the women’s stories.
Moore also largely disappeared from the campaign trail in the final weeks while Jones charged ahead.
If anything, the deck was stacked against Jones. Most of the polls suggested that Alabama voters would rather vote for a pedophile than vote for a Democrat. No Democrat had won a Senate seat in Alabama in over 20 years, and it is considered one of the most conservative states in the country. Moreover, the RNC both endorsed and funded the campaign, seeing it as a safe investment since Trump won so handily in Alabama in 2016.
It really did seem that Jones had very little chance to win.
But Jones won fair and square, and Trump and Moore have no one to blame but themselves.
Trump had multiple opportunities to do the right thing and condemn Moore. He didn’t. He could have just kept his mouth shut and let the initial White House condemnation of Moore stand. But he didn’t.
This is an embarrassing loss for Trump, and he needs to take responsibility for it. That’s what real leaders do. Real leaders don’t make excuses.
Featured Image: YouTube screenshot
