President Donald Trump's Twitter account has been scrubbed of multiple tweets of support for Sen. Luther Strange, who lost a special primary runoff in Alabama on Tuesday.
Roy Moore's 9-point victory over Sen. Luther Strange, backed by the White House and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, ranks as a miscalculation and temporary embarrassment for the president; it's a more consequential rebuke for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who Moore said should step aside as GOP floor chief.
Trump and McConnell quickly closed ranks behind Moore after Strange conceded, underscoring their desire to keep the seat in Republican hands. Trump tweeted congratulations to Moore after the win. "Luther Strange started way back & ran a good race. Roy, WIN in Dec!" he said
Three tweets supporting Strange on Monday and Tuesday disappeared from Trump's Twitter account. The White House didn't immediately respond with an explanation. Trump's last tweet came Tuesday morning:
“Luther Strange has been shooting up in the Alabama polls since my endorsement. Finish the job –vote today for 'Big Luther.'
On Wednesday morning Trump sent a tweet praising Moore.
"Spoke to Roy Moore of Alabama last night for the first time. Sounds like a really great guy who ran a fantastic race," said Trump's tweet.
The Senate Leadership Fund, a McConnell-aligned political action committee, also pledged to support Moore after spending $9 million on Strange's behalf.
Trump, meanwhile, must reconcile being the president who promised to "drain the swamp" yet endorsed and campaigned alongside Strange, 64, a lobbyist-turned-politician, in lieu of Moore, a 70-year-old figure steeped in anti-establishment fervor. Adding intrigue was the fact that Strange got his Senate post by being promoted from his job as Alabama attorney general by a now-convicted former governor whom Strange's office had been investigating for corruption.
Trump's choice left him opposite from his campaign architect and departed White House adviser Steve Bannon, who campaigned for Moore and introduced the nominee to his supporters Tuesday night as revelers watched returns showing Moore victorious in 63 of Alabama's 67 counties.
Bannon cast Moore's romp as a win for Trump, regardless of the president's Strange endorsement. "Who is sovereign, the people or the money? Alabama answered today," Bannon said.
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