On December 5, the Republican National Committee formalized its support for Roy Moore by sending $170,000 to aid his campaign in the race’s final week. The decision came days after President Donald Trump announced his endorsement of Moore. The money is a pittance in the world of modern campaign finance. But the RNC’s decision to back Moore—after having withdrawn its money and manpower from the race three weeks before—is the sign of a political party rotting from the center out. No evidence had emerged in those three weeks to suggest withholding support was anything other than a morally sound decision. Moore is the same deeply flawed man now that he was then. But the race is close, and the president has weighed in. The RNC’s calculation, such as it is, could not be more clear. The candidate may be a predator, but he’s our predator: Vote Republican!
To review: Roy Moore has been accused of pursuing teenaged girls for sexual relationships while in his 30s. We find the allegations highly credible. The original Washington Post story detailing the accusations featured four women who say Moore approached them. The most disturbing of those accusations came from Leigh Corfman. She related the details of her story consistently to the Post on six different occasions. Corfman was 14 years old when Moore, then 32, brought her to his house. According to that original story, Moore “took off her shirt and pants and removed his clothes. He touched her over her bra and underpants, she says, and guided her hand to touch him over his underwear. . . . Two of Corfman’s childhood friends say she told them at the time that she was seeing an older man, and one says Corfman identified the man as Moore.” Corfman’s mother says her daughter told her about the incident 15 years later.
Importantly, the Post provided readers with a detailed explanation of how the story came together:
Moore’s team has flailed wildly since the stories first appeared. They’ve pushed unfounded conspiracy theories about the journalists who reported the accusations, and they’ve targeted Moore’s victims, with the campaign chairman telling The Weekly Standard’s John McCormack last month that Corfman was a “problem child.” One after another, their defenses have fallen apart.
In an interview with Sean Hannity, Moore was asked if he recalled “dating girls that young at the time” and said evasively, “not generally, no.” He told Hannity that he didn’t “dat[e] any girl without the permission of her mother.” Moore told Hannity he remembered two of his accusers, Gloria Deason and Debbie Wesson Gibson, but didn’t recall dating them. “I knew her as a friend,” Moore said of Gibson, leaving open the possibility that they dated. “If we did go on dates then we did. But I do not remember that.”
A few weeks later, Moore shifted to a categorical denial: “I do not know any of these women, did not date any of these women, and have not engaged in any sexual misconduct with anyone,” he said.
We have weighed the evidence, and we believe these women. So do many leading Republicans. That makes their quiet acquiescence in the RNC’s decision to support Roy Moore all the more disappointing.
There are, thankfully, some exceptions. “I think he should have dropped out. I think he should,” House speaker Paul Ryan said. “Just because the polling has changed doesn’t change my opinion on that, so I stand by what I said before.” Retiring Arizona senator Jeff Flake dramatized his disgust by sending a $100 check to Moore’s opponent, Doug Jones, with “Country Over Party” written in the memo. Nebraska senator Ben Sasse tweeted: “This is a bad decision and very sad day. I believe the women—and RNC previously did too. What’s changed? Or is the party just indifferent? This sends a terrible message to victims: ‘It’s not that the party won’t believe you if you come forward. It might. But just doesn’t care.’ A political party must be about more than expediency. To have any future, a party must have some fundamental convictions and commitments. If the political committee that I’m a part of (the NRSC) decides to contribute here, I will no longer be a donor to or fundraiser for it.” On December 7, Colorado senator Cory Gardner, the head of that committee—the National Republican Senatorial Committee—made clear that Sasse needn’t worry. “Roy Moore will never have the support of the senatorial committee. We will never endorse him. We won’t support him,” Gardner told The Weekly Standard’s Jenna Lifhits. “I won’t let that happen. Nothing will change.”
Gardner understood that he was defying Donald Trump. He doesn’t care. “We’ve taken a different position. I think our position is right.”
His position is right. And many of his reticent colleagues agree with him. They should say so.
It’s not always easy to speak out for what’s right. But the moments when it’s most difficult to take a stand are also the moments when it’s most important to do so. And it’s not going to get any easier if Judge Roy Moore becomes Senator Roy Moore.
