Trump endorses Roy Moore for Senate

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump gave his most direct endorsement of U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore Monday, declaring Moore’s potential Senate vote too important to give up. “We need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, Border Wall, Military, Pro Life, V.A., Judges 2nd Amendment and more.” During Alabama’s Republican primary earlier this year, the president endorsed Moore’s opponent, Sen. Luther Strange. Since the first accusations of sexual misconduct against Moore emerged in early November, Trump has largely avoided commenting on the Alabama Senate race. In recent weeks, the president started to openly criticize Doug Jones, Moore’s Democratic opponent, but Trump never said he supported Moore’s campaign. The White House said last week that Trump does not plan to travel to Alabama to campaign for Moore ahead of next week’s special election. Multiple women have come forward to accuse Moore of making unwanted sexual advances when he was in his 30s and they were teenagers. Moore has denied each claim against him and maintains the accusations are a “witch hunt” designed to keep him out of Washington. Many Senate Republicans asked Moore to end his campaign amid the accusations, but on Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., backtracked slightly, saying Alabama voters should “make the call” on Moore’s future.