Trump Un-Moored?

“I think that the American government has serious intentions but as has happened in the past they’re in for a disappointment. They’re going to see the reality as it is: the problem is that the Palestinians don’t want peace. The Palestinian Authority is not only not part of the solution it is the heart of the problem”

Donald Trump has taken a big gamble with Roy Moore. In ten days critical elections will be held for the Senate seat in Alabama vacated by Senator Jeff Sessions due to his appointment as attorney general. The Republican majority in the Senate is currently very narrow with 52 seats versus 48 for the Democrats. If Democratic candidate Doug Jones takes Alabama that balance would shift to a razor-sharp 51–49. Such a slim majority would make it more difficult for the president to advance his agenda including tax and health care reform in the Senate.

The Republican candidate Roy Moore has been facing accusations over inappropriate behavior for two weeks. Last week his chances looked so bad that there was talk of somehow reinstating Sessions in his seat. Since then the volume has been lowered.

On Sunday of this week President Trump took to Twitter to clarify why Republicans need to support Moore: “The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime WEAK on the BORDER ” the president wrote. But this explanation has a deeper meaning as well. During the Republican primaries in September Trump supported the candidate favored by Mitch McConnell and the establishment Luther Strange. By doing so he disregarded his gut feeling and the advice of Steve Bannon who supported Moore. Now he is determined to make up for that mistake and follow his instincts to the end. “I endorsed Luther Strange in the Alabama Primary ” he added. “He shot way up in the polls but it wasn’t enough. Can’t let Schumer/Pelosi win this race.”