As the accusations pile up, Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore has followed the same campaign strategy as then-candidate Donald Trump, taking to Twitter to circumvent a hostile media and deliver his message directly to voters ahead of next month’s special election.
On Wednesday, the 70-year-old used his account to share a positive news story from a local Fox affiliate featuring a supportive pastor who said the women accusing the former state Supreme Court chief justice of predatory sexual behavior were “perhaps satanically motivated,” and calling anti-Moore Republicans a “bunch of sissies!”
Mr. Moore also posted a letter he sent to Sean Hannity, the Fox News host who has flirted with walking back his support of Mr. Moore.
“Are we at a stage in American politics in which false allegations can overcome a public record of 40 years, stampede the media and politicians to condemn an innocent man and potentially impact the outcome of an election of national importance?” he wrote.
Mr. Moore launched his campaign account in April and has proved to be a quick learner, sounding off against political correctness, the Washington elite and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — all in 280 characters or less.
“Mitch McConnell is attempting to subvert the will of Alabamians yet again, this time helping to elect a far-left Democrat! #alsen,” Mr. Moore said in his first tweet of the morning Wednesday.
“The Republicans and Democrats who did everything they could to stop Donald Trump and elect Hillary Clinton are the very same people who are now trying to take us down with lies and smears,” he added later in the day.
For three straight days, Mr. Moore has targeted Mr. McConnell, the Kentucky Republican who oversees the party’s fragile 52-48 Senate majority and who has called on Mr. Moore to exit the race out of concern that the Alabama conservative is inflicting lasting damage on the party ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
David Ferguson, a GOP consultant, said Mr. Moore, who was kicked off the Alabama Supreme Court twice, is known for standing his ground amid controversy and said it is no surprise that Twitter has become part of his defense.
“Roy Moore strategy has been to fight fire with fire and answer the criticism and charges against him directly,” Mr. Ferguson said.
Twitter also became a go-to tool for Mr. Trump in the 2016 campaign.
The New York businessman regularly slapped down naysayers and political rivals with exclamation points and thanked his supporters.
“I understand social media. Maybe better than anybody, ever,” Mr. Trump said during the campaign “Somebody said I’m the Ernest Hemingway of 140 characters.”
Twitter has since bumped up the character cap to 280, and a year into his presidency, Mr. Trump’s blasts to his more than 47 million followers continue to drive news coverage.
Mr. Trump, though, has uncharacteristically shied away from weighing in on the Moore controversy on Twitter — or elsewhere.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump ignored repeated questions from reporters over whether Mr. Moore should pull out of the race.
Joan Reynolds, chair of the Shelby County GOP in Alabama, which passed a pro-Moore resolution this week, applauded the way Mr. Trump has handled the allegations, which she said have divided voters.
“We appreciate him staying on the sidelines on a matter pertaining to the Alabama candidate,” Ms. Reynolds said. “Alabama should be allowed to settle its own issues and send a Republican to Washington.”
Ms. Reynolds said it is “very disappointing” that GOP leaders in Washington were “so quick to ask for the removal of a Republican and allow a Democrat to possibly win this seat that has been held by Republicans for decades.”
Some have speculated the Alabama GOP could intervene by stripping the nomination away from Mr. Moore and backing a write-in candidate — possibly Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who they hoped to entice to return to his old seat.
Others, though, say Mr. Moore is here to stay as the nominee, and any alternative scenario is wishful thinking because Republicans are worried about ticking off the base.
Mr. Moore’s campaign manager, Bill Armistead, and attorney, Phillip L. Jauregui, signaled as much Wednesday when they raised doubts about one of Mr. Moore’s accusers at a press conference, questioning whether she presented phony evidence to support her claim.
After the brief press conference, Mr. Moore proceeded to retweet news reports on the press conference that cast him in a positive light, footage of his attorney questioning the authenticity of accusations against him and a press release from his campaign in which 12 women vouched for his character.
Mr. Moore handily won the GOP runoff race for Mr. Sessions’ seat, overcoming Mr. McConnell and other Washington forces who poured millions of dollars into boosting Sen. Luther Strange, who was appointed to the seat after Mr. Sessions became attorney general.
Mr. Moore is now following some of his biggest boosters on Twitter — including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Mr. Hannity.
Mrs. Palin has been quiet following the accusations against Mr. Moore, while Mr. Hannity said this week that Mr. Moore’s needs a better explanation for what happened — sparking the rebuttal from Mr. Moore, who has repeatedly dismissed the allegations and made the case to his more than 47,000 followers on Twitter that Washington is out to get him.
“When allegations of events occurring 40 years ago — and never mentioned during a 40-year career of public service — are brought out and taken seriously only 30 days before a critical election, we may be in trouble as a country,” he said in the Hannity letter he posted Wednesday night.
At the end of Wednesday evening’s show, Mr. Hannity hedged, neither endorsing the GOP nominee nor calling for him to pull out. He said that the people of Alabama needed to have all the facts before them and implied that the Republican governor’s power to delay an election can serve that end.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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