Why Trump won’t touch the Moore harassment scandal
The president who can’t seem to resist controversy steers conspicuously clear of this one. By ELIANA JOHNSON and ALEX ISENSTADT
| 11/16/2017 06:10 PM EST Donald Trump loves nothing more than a good controversy. But the president isn’t touching the Alabama Senate race, the biggest talker in American politics right now.
Resisting the entreaties of GOP leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Trump has steered conspicuously clear of the firestorm surrounding Roy Moore, the Republican Senate candidate accused of pursuing, and in some cases harassing, teenage girls.
Trump’s absence from the race has compounded GOP worries the party is about to lose a seat it has no business relinquishing to Democrats. Republicans say a denunciation of Moore from Trump, a beloved figure in Alabama despite his problems elsewhere, offers the only hope of keeping the seat in the party’s hands.
But Trump sees nothing but negatives in getting involved, according to three White House aides, who say they consider the options laid out by McConnell and his team far-fetched. Many Alabama Republicans are also beginning to view the race as a referendum on McConnell and the Republican establishment more broadly, and Trump’s advisers say they fear any White House intervention is likely to backfire.
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https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/16/trump-roy-moore-scandal-245559
