Analysis: Trump bets on Moore and suffers stinging defeat
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rarely has a sitting president rallied behind such a scandal-plagued candidate the way Donald Trump did with Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore. And rarely has that bet failed so spectacularly.
Moore's defeat Tuesday in Alabama — as stalwart a Republican state as they come — left Trump unusually conciliatory and his political allies shell-shocked. Trump had dug in on his support for Moore after a wave of allegations about the former judge's alleged sexual misconduct with teenagers when he was in his 30s, becoming one of the candidate's most ardent national supporters in the race's closing days.