Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said Sunday he’d like to see President Donald Trump “use his influence” to persuade Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore to step aside amid sexual misconduct allegations.
In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Thune said Moore’s election would put the GOP agenda in jeopardy.
“I would like to see the president come out and support what many of us have said, and that is that Roy Moore needs to step aside, allow somebody else to be a write-in candidate, we can win that seat,” he said.
In a pre-dawn tweets Sunday, Trump repeated his argument implying Moore’s election in Alabama’s special election Dec. 12 would be better than that of Democrat Doug Jones.
Thune said, however, if Moore wins his race “there’s going to immediately be an ethics investigation which is going to be a cloud that he’ll be operating in.”
“It’s going to be a distraction for us and for our agenda,” he said.
“So, you know, ultimately the decision is up to the people of Alabama, but it strikes me at least that it would be in their best interest and in the country’s best interest and certainly the best interest of our agenda if the President would use his influence to try to get Roy Moore to step aside.”
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