The right-leaning Wall Street Journal editorial board slammed former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, calling him the “obvious loser” in the controversy engulfing U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore.
The paper said Tuesday night that it’s Bannon’s fault that the Republican Party is in further danger of seeing its slim majority in the Senate shrink, as Moore fights back against multiple allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior.
Bannon and his allies “have no discernible governing agenda beyond trade protectionism and slashing immigration, and those often appear to be convictions of convenience,” the Journal said. “It is hardly a surprise therefore that instead of recruiting talented candidates, Mr. Bannon is collecting cranks and outliers like Roy Moore who, demonstrably, will take the GOP into the minority.”
The paper said Moore, who has denied all of the allegations, including that as an adult he would cruise a local mall for teenage girls, appears unlikely to step aside in the race, but that the GOP would be “better off” if he is defeated by his Democratic opponent.
Bannon, upon leaving the White House in August, started campaigning for his preferred candidates. He pushed for Moore’s nomination in the primary against Luther Strange, who was favored by President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Bannon had said he believed Moore was more in line with Trump’s agenda.
He has maintained his support for Moore despite many other Republicans calling on him to withdraw from the race, yet reportedly said that he would “put him in a grave myself” if the candidate lied to Bannon.
