Donald Trump Jr. slammed former Alabama Supreme Court judge and 2016 Senate candidate Roy Moore Tuesday, telling him to give up on another run in 2020.
The president’s son was responding to Moore’s tweet sent out the same afternoon alleging that a fellow Alabama conservative, Rep. Bradley Byrne, did not want him to run for office again in 2020 because Byrne was “worried” Moore would beat his Democratic rival, Sen. Doug Jones.
“You mean like last time?” Trump Jr. asked, referring to Jones’ upset victory against Moore, who had President Trump’s endorsement, in 2016 after Moore’s campaign was rattled by accusations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls.
[New: Trump: ‘Roy Moore cannot win, and the consequences will be devastating’]
You mean like last time? You’re literally the only candidate who could lose a GOP seat in pro-Trump, pro-USA ALABAMA. Running for office should never become a business model. If you actually care about #MAGA more than your own ego, it’s time to ride off into the sunset, Judge. https://t.co/Twg9isFRkY
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 28, 2019
“You’re literally the only candidate who could lose a GOP seat in pro-Trump, pro-USA ALABAMA,” he continued. “Running for office should never become a business model. If you actually care about #MAGA more than your own ego, it’s time to ride off into the sunset, Judge.”
Moore, 72, began signaling another run earlier this year, much to the consternation of the state’s conservative ranks and the establishment wings of the GOP. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, said in February that it would take action to block Moore should he chase a primary nod in Alabama’s Senate contest.
“The NRSC’s official stance is ABRM: anyone but Roy Moore,” Kevin McLaughlin, the committee’s executive director, told the Washington Examiner. “The only thing Doug Jones and I agree on is that his only prayer for electoral success in 2020 is a rematch with Roy Moore.”
The controversial candidate claimed in January that he had “no doubt” the election was “stolen” from him after his loss by almost 2 percentage points.
President Trump, however, had tweeted the opposite just a few weeks before Moore’s claim, congratulating Jones on “a hard fought victory” and conceding that “a win is a win.”
