‘Big black eye’ for Trump as his candidate loses safe Senate seat
DONALD Trump was yesterday recovering from the biggest poll setback of his presidency after the Democrats scored a shock election victory in Alabama. He suffered a “big black eye” as Doug Jones beat Republican Roy Moore, the first time the Democrats had won the state’s Senate seat in a quarter of a century. The loss was personally embarrassing for Mr Trump as he backed Mr Moore in the final days of the campaign. It also reduced his majority in the Senate to the slimmest possible, 51 to 49. The President had backed Mr Moore, a controversial former judge, even though he was accused of being a paedophile who molested girls as young as 14 when he was in his 30s. The defeat saw one of Mr Trump’s top aides, Omarosa Manigault Newman, abruptly resign from the White House. The vote left Washington in shock as Alabama was considered to be one of the safest Republican Senate seats in the US. It slashes the party’s majority in the Senate at a time when they are trying to push through tax reform.
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And it could be a harbinger for the midterm elections next year when Republicans could lose control of the Senate and bring Mr Trump’s agenda to a halt.
One senior administration official summed up the vote as “a big black eye for the president”.
The special election was called after Jeff Sessions vacated his Senate seat to take up the post of Attorney General.
Mr Jones, a former US Attorney best known for prosecuting members of the Ku Klux Klan who bombed a black church, took 49.9 per cent of the vote to Mr Moore’s 48.4 per cent.
The 63-year-old Democrat candidate ran on a platform of civil justice.
In his victory speech he said: “At end of the day, this entire race has been about dignity and respect. This campaign has been about the rule of law.”
Mr Moore initially refused to Trump backed loser Roy Moore concede but the result was beyond doubt. His alleged sexual misconduct appeared to have cost him the race.
Seven women accused him in the Washington Post of inappropriate behaviour with them when they were underage.
But the vote was also seen as a verdict on Mr Trump who initially supported Mr Moore’s Republican primary opponent Luther Strange but then switched. The President’s decision shocked the Republican party, many of whom saw Mr Moore as unfit to be a Senator.
Mr Moore, 70, who rode a horse to the polling station, is loved by the religious right for putting a stone tablet of the 10 Commandments in his courthouse, in breach of federal law.
The former military policeman and kickboxer believes homosexuality is “illegal” and has said that life would be easier if blacks and women could not vote.
Mr Trump yesterday tweeted: “Roy worked hard but the deck was stacked against him!”
He added that the Republicans need to “put up GREAT candidates to increase the razor thin margins in both the House and Senate”.
Analysts said that a high turnout among women and black voters appeared to have swung it for Mr Jones. Mark Harris, a Republican consultant, said: “It’s unclear if it’s just bad or if we’re looking at a tsunami in 2018.
“Hopefully this is a wake-up call to Republicans everywhere that we can’t afford to nominate horrible candidates.”
Mr Jones’ victory was hailed by celebrities including Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler.