When President Donald Trump did endorse Alabama Sen. Luther Strange in mid-August, it came without warning. | Mario Tama/Getty Images Trump promised Sen. Strange a rally, but it hasn't happened yet

President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Sen. Luther Strange was supposed to be the whole package: a tweet, a robocall and, at the right time, a packed campaign rally in Alabama like the one Trump enjoyed during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump himself promised Strange that type of rally in a recent phone call the two had, according to people familiar with the call.

But with only 18 days to go before the Republican runoff between Strange and former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, the Strange campaign has been unable to schedule the event, and the White House has shown less interest in recent days as the senator has dropped in the polls, according to people familiar the discussions. The White House has received polling data on the race, these people said, that show Strange not in a strong position. Some White House aides would like for Trump to wash his hands of the election.


That’s a problem for the Strange campaign. There have been five polls since the Republican primary, and all have shown Moore leading — three of them by double digits, and the others by single digits. Trump, meanwhile, has remained very popular among Alabama Republicans since the presidential campaign.

Strange has been eager for a full-throated endorsement from the White House. Even before Trump weighed in on the race via Twitter, the campaign often linked the senator and the president in ads and attacked opponents as effectively anti-Trump. Allies of Strange also pushed the White House to back him as soon as possible.

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When Trump did endorse Strange in mid-August, it came without warning. The senator got a call from the president shortly before the tweet went out, and he then surprised Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell by calling to share the news after he got off the phone with Trump, according to Republicans with knowledge of the conversation.

Since then, the prospect of some kind of rally benefiting Strange has floated in Republican circles around the state, though nothing has come to fruition. Trump is still officially backing the senator, but hasn’t weighed in further on his behalf. He recorded a robocall for Strange that helped propel him into the runoff against Moore, beating out the third-place finisher, Rep. Mo Brooks. After Moore and Strange prevailed, Trump did send out a follow-up tweet praising both candidates.

“Congratulations to Roy Moore and Luther Strange for being the final two and heading into a September runoff in Alabama. Exciting race!” the president wrote. It was a far cry from the denunciation of Moore that backers of Strange wanted at the time.

Now, after the president’s unequivocal backing, and as Strange’s team looks to flip polls of the race in his favor, top Alabama Republicans are beginning to say that Trump’s strong continued support might be the only way for Strange to win the runoff.

“I think that would be extremely helpful for him,” a chief of staff for a member of the Alabama congressional delegation said.

Strange’s campaign hasn’t directly asked for the president to do a rally, according to a Republican with knowledge of the campaign, but the senator has stayed in contact. On Tuesday, he and Trump talked on the phone, during which the president reiterated his support and said he was aware that former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon was actively supporting Moore.

“We haven’t asked for him to come down because he has been dealing with a hurricane and is gearing up for another one,” the Republican said. “We want his help, but not asking him to sacrifice his political career for us.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Others say that at this point a Trump rally could backfire by energizing Moore supporters who fear the race is slipping away from the former judge in the final days before the runoff. By flaunting Moore’s lead, said Alabama Republican strategist Chris Brown, the campaign isn’t actually encouraging supporters to vote.

“They keep running these things, saying, ‘Well, we’re kicking Luther’s behind. We’re up by 20 points,’” Brown, a veteran of multiple special-election races, said of Moore’s campaign. “That does nothing to encourage people to vote. You want to say that it’s a close election. And I think one of the reasons that Moore’s people turned out in higher droves in the primary is that they were indicating it was going to be a closer election.”

“Would Trump make an impact? Yes,” he said. “But would Trump coming out also turn out Moore voters? Yes.”

