REPUBLICANS REJOICE: GOP Lawmakers Celebrate Democrat’s Alabama Victory Over Roy Moore
Democratic candidate Doug Jones pulled off the ultimate upset in the Alabama Senate race Tuesday night, besting Republican Roy Moore, who was once considered a shoo-in for the deep-red state.
Moore didn’t come without an ultimately fatal handicap: not only were his policy views absolutely-fucking-nuts (gay conduct should be illegal, Muslims should be banned from serving in office, etc), but just last month a number of women accused him of preying on them when they were in their teens.
Those factors were a real problem for Republican lawmakers, who in the event of a Moore win, would have been saddled with an accused child molester in the Senate. And though allegations weren’t enough to deter the support of President Donald Trump, who enthusiastically supported Moore through the election, they did draw cutting rebukes from a number of Moore’s would-be colleagues in the Senate.
And after his loss a number of those Republican senators gleefully celebrated Moore’s defeat — and Democrat Jones’s win — on Twitter and cable news Wednesday.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), who thought Moore was unfit for the Senate even before the sexual assault allegations surfaced, told reporters that he was “proud” of Alabama:
“I know we’re supposed to cheer for our side of the aisle, if you will,” Corker said, “but I’m really, really happy with what happened for all of us in our nation, for people serving in the Senate, to not have to deal with what we were likely going to have to deal with should the outcome have been the other way.”
Watch Corker’s remarks above.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-MN) was asked by an NBC News reporter what message Moore’s defeat sent — and the senator quipped that it showed “Alabamians didn’t want somebody who dated 14-year-old girls.”
When asked if the election was a lesson for Steve Bannon, the former White House strategist who threw the full force of his right-wing blog Breitbart behind Moore, Johnson replied “I hope he pays attention that you need good candidates to win Senate races”:
Reporter: “What message did the election send last night?”
Sen. Johnson: “Alabamians didn’t want somebody who dated 14-year-old girls.” pic.twitter.com/tmWDDxIw0G
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 13, 2017
Rep. Peter King (R-NY) spoke about the Alabama race on MSNBC, and after he was played a clip of Corker’s comments, was asked if he too was happy about Jones’s win.
“I’m certainly glad Roy Moore lost, and the only alternative to that was Doug Jones,” King replied.
Watch here:
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) — who made news earlier this month when he wrote a $100 check to Jones’s campaign, tweeting out a photo of the donation with the caption “Country over Party” — sent out an equally pithy tweet following the Democrat’s victory:
Decency wins
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) December 13, 2017
[image via screengrab]
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