The Trump Administration Moves to Embrace Roy Moore

For nearly two weeks, the White House has been tiptoeing around the sexual assault allegations against Roy Moore, neither condemning nor defending the embattled Senate candidate, who has been accused of pursuing teenage girls for dates as a grown man and even touching a 14-year-old girl sexually when he was 32.

But on Monday, White House officials had a new message—one not quite endorsing Moore, but making it clear they’re rooting for him. The shift began on Fox & FriendsMonday morning, when senior advisor Kellyanne Conway veered from a discussion of tax reform to slam Moore’s Democratic opponent.

“Doug Jones in Alabama, folks, don’t be fooled,” Conway said. “He will be a vote against tax cuts. He is weak on crime. Weak on borders. He is strong on raising your taxes. He is terrible for property owners.”

Host Brian Kilmeade cut in: “So vote Roy Moore?”

“I’m telling you that we want the votes in the Senate to get this tax bill through,” Conway responded. “If the media were really concerned about all of these allegations, and if that’s what this is truly about, and the Democrats—Al Franken would be on the ash heap of bygone half-funny comedians.”