White House Unlikely to Trash Roy Moore
Senior RNC and pro-Trump PAC adviser says voters in Alabama should decide
The White House isn’t likely to try to push Republican Roy Moore out of the Alabama Senate race.
That is according to a senior adviser to America First Policies, an outside spending group pushing for President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.
“The allegations against Judge Moore are deeply troubling, and I believe that he should step aside if there’s any truth to them at all, but the reality is [White House counselor] Kellyanne [Conway] is right, that we need the votes to pass tax reform. And so where the president is on this, I believe, and [White House Press Secretary] Sarah Sanders has been vocal on this, which is it’s up to the people of Alabama, and I think, you know, they’ll make their decision in a couple weeks here,” Katie Walsh said in an interview with Fox News Radio.
Walsh, a former Republican National Committee chief of staff, is currently a senior adviser to both America First Policies and the data operation at the RNC.
She was referring to comments made Monday morning by Conway during an interview on Fox News.
“Folks, don’t be fooled. [Alabama Democratic nominee Doug Jones] will be a vote against tax cuts,” Conway said.
However, the time for certifying the results of the Dec. 12 special election in Alabama, which could stretch beyond Christmas, would be past the expected timeline for work on the tax legislation. That means it would be lame-duck appointed GOP Sen. Luther Strange, not Moore or Jones, casting votes on behalf of Alabama.
Walsh compared the apparent position of the White House to how the RNC handled the 2016 presidential primaries, which included no shortage of sexual harassment allegations against Trump.
“I do want to reiterate that I think the allegations are troubling, and my personal position on this is that I think Roy Moore should step aside if there’s any truth to them,” Walsh said. “The RNC didn’t get involved in the presidential primary for any reason, whether it be policy, whether it be accusations that came about.”
“Ultimately, the voters of the great state of Alabama should decide who they want representing them. And so at this point, that’s where I think the president is, and that’s where I think you’ll see the White House remain,” she said.
