Roy Moore, the former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and an alleged child sexual predator, announced that he is running for Senate again on Thursday.
Moore became the first Republican to lose an Alabama Senate race in 25 years in 2017 after multiple women came forward to accuse him of sexual abuse when they were teenagers decades earlier.
Despite his failure, Moore announced another run on Thursday and questioned why “there’s such a fear” over his candidacy, before suggesting it must because of his conservative positions and religious views.
"I think there was so much opposition because they don't want the truth in Washington," said Moore of the 2017 race, when President Trump endorsed him even as the Republican Party distanced themselves. "I think they want to continue the status quo."
Moore lost to Doug Jones by fewer than 2 points in a state Trump won by 27 percent.
Moore vows ‘more personal contact with people’:
At a press conference, Moore said religion would be at the center of his campaign.
"We have every right to recognize God," Moore said. "That'll be a main factor in my race."
Asked what he would do differently in this race, Moore said, “I would like to make more personal contact with people.”
Jones issued a statement after Moore’s announcement, writing that his candidacy has made the “divisive Republican primary even more polarizing and extreme.”
“It’s now clear that my opponent will either be an extremist like Roy Moore or someone handpicked by Mitch McConnell to be his Senator, not Alabama’s.”
Republicans vow to defeat Moore:
Despite backing him in 2017 even after the child sex abuse allegations were reported, Trump said in a tweet that Moore “cannot win.”
“Republicans cannot allow themselves to again lose the Senate seat in the Great State of Alabama. This time it will be for Six Years, not just Two. I have NOTHING against Roy Moore,” Trump wrote of the alleged serial child predator, “and unlike many other Republican leaders, wanted him to win. But he didn’t, and probably won’t.”
“If Alabama does not elect a Republican to the Senate in 2020, many of the incredible gains that we have made during my Presidency may be lost, including our Pro-Life victories. Roy Moore cannot win, and the consequences will be devastating....Judges and Supreme Court Justices!” he added.
“We’ll be opposing Roy Moore vigorously,” McConnell told reporters, according to Politico.
"There will be a lot of efforts made to ensure that we have a nominee other than him and one who can win in November,” added Senate Majority Whip John Thune. “He’s already proven he can’t.”
“Give me a break. This place has enough creepy old men,” said Sen. Martha McSally.
