Trump After Dark: What’s Moore Important edition

Not many Republicans are left standing by Roy Moore. President, the most prominent one in America, Donald Trump seems to be one of them.

Over the last two weeks, accusations of inappropriate contact with teenagers piled up on Republican’s Alabama Senate candidate . And as they have virtually everyone — the Republican National Committee, Senate Republicans’ campaign arm and an array of senators, beginning with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have cut Moore off. Even the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, has said she has no reason to doubt Moore’s accusers.


Trump, it appears, sees thing differently.

“Let me just tell you, Roy Moore denies it. That's all I can say. He denies it. And, by the way, he totally denies it,” Trump told reporters.

Trump also added that it was important not to elect ‘a liberal person in there, a Democrat.”

Trump’s remarks, which came after an uncharacteristic silence on a controversial issue, were not flippant, as they might seem, POLITICO’s Alex Isenstadt reports . Trump has privately been talking about Moore’s situation for days, drawing some parallels with his own during the 2016 presidential race.

“During animated conversations with senior Republicans and White House aides, the president said he doubted the stories presented by Moore’s accusers and questioned why they were emerging now, just weeks before the election, according to two White House advisers and two other people familiar with the talks.”

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In the end, Trump headed to his Mar a Lago resort in Florida virtually alone among prominent Republicans standing near, if not right by, Moore.

Elsewhere in President Trump’s orbit:

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Trump After Dark is taking its Thanksgiving holiday. Gobble up today’s edition, enjoy lots of turkey,(polite) political chatter with your family and loved ones and we’ll see you back, triptofan free on Monday.

COUNT ON BACKLASH: President Trump’s likely selection of a Texas college professor with no government experience to run the U.S. Census Bureau has worried outside groups. The 2020 count will be used for a range of government data, including electoral allocations.

NEUTRAL FINISH: The FCC chairman outlined his plans to completely rollback Obama administration regulations on net neutrality and rolled out a plan to prevent states from stepping in to fill a regulatory vacuum.

UH-OH, WHMO: The Pentagon is investigating the behavior of military personnel on President Trump’s trip to Asia, with three people suspended from work at the White House.

FOUNDATION CRUMBLED: President Trump is dissolving his controversial charitable foundation, which has admitted to violating federal rules against “self-dealing.” (NBC).

PUTIN HIS MARKER DOWN: President Trump has virtually ceded to Russian President Vladimir Putin post war planning in Syria.

HUNGARY TO KNOW MORE: Former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page held previously undisclosed high level meetings with the Hungarian government in Budapest. (ABC)

GATES OPEN: Former Trump campaign chairman and Trump campaign aide Rick Gates have been cleared for release for the Thanksgiving holiday, though their bail negotiation is rumbling on.

GOBBLED UP BY NEWS: President Trump pardoned a turkey today before leaving for Florida — a presidential Thanksgiving tradition. Drumstick will live out his days in leisure at Gobbler’s Rest at Virginia Tech University.

There you have it. You’re caught up on the Trump administration. Tuesday is in the books.

