Roy Stewart Moore, age 70, is an American politician and former Alabama state judge. He is an advocate of far-right politics, with strong anti-homosexual and anti-Muslim views. Moore, being a firm believer that Christianity should order public policy, was removed as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in 2001 because of his refusal to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments, disregarding a federal court. He ran twice for Republican nomination for the governorship of Alabama in 2006 and 2010; however, he lost in both in the primaries. He was then elected again as Chief Justice in 2013, but was suspended in May 2016 for directing judges to continue to enforce Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage despite it being deemed unconstitutional. Following, Roy Moore resigned from Chief Justice in April 2017 and announced that he would be running for the United States Senate.
As he began to go public with his decision to run for a seat in the Senate, extreme controversy broke out due to his extreme far-right politics and rumored ties to neo-Confederates and white nationalist groups. Moore was also a leading voice in the “birther movement,” which was created to promote the conspiracy that President Obama was indeed not born in the United States. These facts about Roy Moore’s belief system and political views did not help when it surfaced that while in his thirties Moore committed numerous acts of sexual harassment and two known cases of sexual assault, all victims being women significantly younger than Moore, including a 14-year-old. Independent witnesses have come forward to confirm these accusations as well as validate Moore’s reputation for coming on to younger girls in an inappropriate manner.
This truth has brought attention to the election of the remaining seat in Senate, due to Jeff Sessions new position as Attorney General of the United States. U.S citizens are upset and confused by President Trump’s approval and support of Roy Moore. It has been repeatedly stated by White House officials that President Trump finds the accusations towards Moore “extremely troubling”; however, CNN reports that he said: “We don’t need a liberal person in there, a democrat.” President Trump is now saying the women who called Roy Moore a sexual predator may not be telling the truth, questioning why after 40 years and eight different campaigns these accusations haven’t come to the surface. President Trump has publicly decided to let the election run its course and will not interfere or campaign with Moore; however, he has not been missing the chance to endorse and defend him when given the chance.