Donald Trump had a complicated relationship with Roy Moore. He formally endorsed Luther Strange in the primary, for reasons that were never altogether clear (as a favor to Jeff Sessions, perhaps?), but quickly threw Strange under the bus once Moore won the primary.<\/p>\n
It’s not surprising that Trump backed Moore. I don’t think Donald’s anything close to the theocrat that Moore is, but the “contrary swamp-drainer who defies the establishment” thing has to have looked appealing, not to mention being able to both tweak Mitch McConnell’s nose and<\/i> maintain an ostensible GOP majority in the Senate.<\/p>\n
And perhaps it was inevitable that Trump would double-down once the sexual impropriety allegations started coming up against Moore. As a dude who has so far managed to avoid any consequences from allegations against himself, supporting Moore in those circumstances was clearly a way to flip a finger at his own critics.<\/p>\n
Trump didn’t actively campaign for Moore, but he recorded a robocall, and held a rally just across the border in Pensacola, and tweeted almost daily on his behalf, and mentioned Moore over and over again in speeches.<\/p>\n
And now … Moore and, by extension, Trump have lost. Except Trump never, ever loses.<\/p>\n
Yesterday he was tweeting:<\/p>\n
\nThe people of Alabama will do the right thing. Doug Jones is Pro-Abortion, weak on Crime, Military and Illegal Immigration, Bad for Gun Owners and Veterans and against the WALL. Jones is a Pelosi\/Schumer Puppet. Roy Moore will always vote with us. VOTE ROY MOORE!<\/p>\n
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n