President Donald Trump again on Saturday doubled down on his support for Senate candidate Roy Moore, tweeting a call for voters to elect the Alabama Republican over his Democratic opponent Doug Jones in the special election set for next Tuesday.
"A big contingent of very enthusiastic Roy Moore fans at the rally last night. We can’t have a Pelosi/Schumer Liberal Democrat, Jones, in that important Alabama Senate seat. Need your vote to Make America Great Again! Jones will always vote against what we must do for our Country," Trump tweeted.
The tweet follows Trump's support of Moore he gave on Friday at a rally in Pensacola, Fla., where he said America "cannot afford" to allow the Senate seat to fall into Democratic hands.
Trump on Saturday noted the Friday rally held near Alabama's border with Florida, was a "great evening," and described the crowd as "loud, loving and really smart."
Moore's campaign for the Senate seat in Alabama was rocked last month when he was faced with accusations of sexual misconduct that allegedly took place four decades ago when he was in his early 30s.
On Friday, one woman who said she had been a victim of Moore's advances changed her story about some notes in a high school yearbook she had previously attributed to Moore, calling it proof of her claims. But, Friday she admitted she had written them herself.
The president had initially held back from weighing in on the controversy surrounding Moore for the Senate seat left vacant when Jeff Sessions became attorney general earlier this year. But, at the Friday rally and again on Saturday, Trump took a definitive stand, backing Moore despite the claims leveled against him and calls from Democrats and fellow Republican lawmakers for him to withdraw from the race.
Polls showed Moore's early lead against Jones slipped after the sexual misconduct charges were leveled. However, a Raycom News Network poll last week showed Moore again gaining the lead in the race by a healthy seven percent over Jones.