The man eyeing Attorney General Jeff Sessions' Senate seat, Roy Moore, was unequivocal when asked whether he has ruled out re-electing Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell as majority leader.
“Yes.” Moore replied without hesitation. “He has repeatedly let down the president’s agenda and the proof is in the inaction we see on ending Obamacare, toughening immigration laws, and getting tax reform on the road to passage.”
Asked whom he would support over McConnell, the former judge told me: “Let’s see who’s running against him.”
The controversial Republican nominee in Alabama’s special U.S. Senate election on Dec. 12 spoke to Newsmax during a trip to Washington last week.
Because he sacrificed the office of chief justice of Alabama for refusing to back down from principles in which he believed, Moore 70, has been a conservative icon for nearly two decades.
He was removed as chief justice for refusing to remove a monument bearing the Ten Commandments from the Hall of Justice and more recently, for telling county and local officials to ignore the Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage.
When asked on his upcoming race, Moore said, “Based on Alabama’s history, we should win. But I’m certainly aware of the recent polls, and I’m preparing for a competitive race.”
The Republican nominee was referring to the just-completed poll by Opinion Savvy showing that among Alabama voters statewide, Moore leads Democrat and former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones by a margin of 50.2 percent to 44.5 percent.
While anticipating a spirited contest with Jones, Moore cited the fact that Sen. Luther Strange (who had been appointed to fill Sessions’ seat) promptly endorsed him after he won the GOP nomination. In addition, he noted, the National Republican Senatorial Committee had said it would support Moore, and he expects backing from the Republican National Committee.
Disappointed that the Senate was unable to repeal the Affordable Care Act (the formal name for Obamacare), the Alabamian nonetheless believes the Graham-Cassidy bill was not a good alternative because, in his words, “it contains too much of the socialist ingredients in Obamacare. I’m open to suggestions on a better healthcare system for Americans but right now, my position is ‘repeal and repeal,’ period. Repeal Obamacare, and repeal the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which bans buying health insurance across state lines.”
A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a Vietnam veteran, Moore said he believes Trump “is handling the situation in North Korea very well. A president has to use strong words when he’s dealing with someone like [Kim Jong Un] and he only takes action as a last resort — and when Congress says he can.”
The former jurist then turned to his well-worn pocketbook version of the U.S. Constitution and pointed out that “Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to declare war.” He did agree, however, that under the War Powers Act of 1973, the president could take immediate action against a hostile power but would have to report to Congress on that action in 48 hours.
Moore took pains to emphasize news stories that he hated homosexuals and felt God would punish gay people were, in his words, “fake news.”
“I don’t hate anyone!” he told me. “That’s not a Christian attitude. I certainly differ with the homosexual lifestyle, and think it is incompatible for some roles in America such as the military. But God teaches us to love people with whom we differ.”
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.