President Donald Trump has given embattled Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore a vigorous formal endorsement, looking past allegations of sexual misconduct with Alabama teenagers.
Buoyed by the taste of his own success in Congress as the Republican tax bill inches closer to passage, Trump telephoned Moore to offer encouragement as well as support and also argued in a pair of tweets that Moore's vote was badly needed to push the president's policies forward.
In addition, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who was initially among several national Republicans to urge Moore to drop out of the race, said on Sunday it was up to Alabama voters to decide whether the former state Supreme Court chief justice should be elected.
Weeks ago, when accusations of sexual misconduct with teenagers first surfaced, Trump's spokesman had said the president believed Moore would "do the right thing and step aside" if the allegations were true.
Trump's tweets on Monday showed his thinking has evolved as Moore has rejected his party's appeals and doggedly remained in the race.
In the phone call, Moore said, Trump offered "his full support and said he needs a fighter to help him in the US Senate."
Moore tweeted that the president told him: "Go get 'em, Roy!"
Moore's campaign was wounded by accusations of sexual misconduct, decades ago, made by women who were then teenagers. One of the women alleges he initiated sexual contact when she was 14.
Moore denies it all, saying "I do not know any of these women. I did not date any of these women I did not engage in any sexual misconduct with anyone."
