Monday on Huntsville, AL’s News Talk 770 AM/92.5 FM WVNN’s “Dale Jackson Show,” JMC Analytics pollster John Couvillon offered his interpretation of a response to his latest poll on the Alabama U.S. Senate race that showed some respondents more likely to vote for GOP candidate Roy Moore in the wake of a damaging Washington Post report.

On Thursday, a story in the Post accused Moore of engaging in inappropriate conduct with four teenage girls decades ago. The JMC Analytics survey found that 29 percent of its respondents were “more likely” to vote for Moore in response to the Post’s reporting.

Some had interpreted that response as an endorsement by Alabamians of Moore’s alleged behavior.

Next time you take the kiddos to Alabama steer clear of 29% of the state’s voters @TVietor08 https://t.co/WgEgK7y63s — Mike Barnicle (@mikebarnicle) November 12, 2017

29% of Alabama voters say allegations of child molestation make them MORE likely to vote for Roy Moore. pic.twitter.com/unbKytNND5 — Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) November 12, 2017

Host Dale Jackson asked Couvillon about that response and what to make of it. According to Couvillon, it appeared to him it was a response more about pushing back against a hostile press than an endorsement of molestation.

“That’s a very interesting point that you’ve raised,” Couvillon said. “And it’s something that I saw mischaracterized over and over again yesterday on social media. In other words, the implication was that Alabamians are a group of people that somehow think that molestation is OK. My interpretation of that 29 percent who said somehow their more likely to support him is given that you have a widespread distrust of the news media, if you are a Republican and/or somebody who supports President Trump, and you’re used to your candidate just getting routinely trashed on the media so to speak, an incident like this is likely to get your dander up and say, ‘You know what, screw it. I’m going to vote for Roy Moore to make a statement.’ So, I don’t interpret the 29 percent as condoning what Roy Moore did. Rather, I’m interpreting that 29 percent as kind of a primal scream saying, ‘I don’t care what the media says. I’m sticking by Moore.’”

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