Story highlights President Trump called Sen. Luther Strange on Friday to reiterate his support

If Trump was heavily involved, then a Roy Moore win could embarrass him

Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump could largely stay out of Alabama's Republican Senate race, leaving it to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his allies to carry Sen. Luther Strange through a primary runoff.

Days after leaving the White House, Steve Bannon urged a group of influential conservatives to back former Judge Roy Moore over Strange in their late-September runoff. Two White House staffers, Trump legislative affairs aide Paul Teller and Mike Pence public outreach director Sarah Makin, participate in the group's meetings.

At the meeting of the Conservative Action Project, which does not get involved in races but includes representatives of heavyweight conservative groups that do, Bannon took pains to emphasize that he wasn't breaking with Trump. Instead, he said, he was aligning with figures such as conservative talk radio host Mark Levin and "Duck Dynasty" patriarch Phil Robertson to strike a blow against the GOP establishment -- "and in this case, in a more narrow sense, against Mitch McConnell," a source familiar with the meeting said.

Some attendees interpreted the White House's participation in the meeting as an indicator that Trump doesn't plan to get in the middle of the intra-party fight.

It came as word was reaching Republicans elsewhere that -- while things could change -- Trump was likely to dial back his involvement in the runoff after tweeting twice and recording a robo-call on Strange's behalf in the primary, a Republican familiar with Trump's plans said.

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