The Administration Explains Its Binary Choice on Roy Moore

One day after President Trump formally endorsed Roy Moore, the Alabama Senate candidate and accused sexual predator, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders offered this explanation for the move: the allegations against Moore are troubling, but the prospect of electing a Democrat is more troubling still.

“We’ve said that the allegations are concerning, and, if true, [Moore] should step aside,” Sanders said Tuesday afternoon. “But we don’t have a way to validate that . . . Ultimately, it will come down to the people of Alabama to make that decision.”

Asked how Trump had reached the conclusion Moore’s accusers were lying, Sanders said she “didn’t say they were.”

“But as we’ve also said, the president feels that he would rather have a person that supports his agenda versus somebody who opposes his agenda every step of the way,” Sanders went on. “Until the rest of that process plays out, you have a choice between two individuals, and the president has chosen to support Moore.”

Pressed further, Sanders seemed to suggest that how Moore would vote, not how he has acted, is the White House’s ultimate standard.