DENVER – U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, reaffirmed his opposition to Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore Thursday just days before the Dec. 12 special election.
“Roy Moore will never have the support of the senatorial committee. We will never endorse him. We won’t support him,” Gardner, a Colorado Republican, told the Weekly Standard Thursday. “I won’t let that happen. Nothing will change. I stand by my previous statement.”
Gardner said Nov. 13, after multiple reports that Moore had made unwanted sexual advances toward several women including some who were under age, that the Senate should vote to expel Moore should he be elected “because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements” of the Senate.
Gardner further said at the time the women speaking out against Moore “spoke with courage and truth, proving he is unfit to serve in the United States Senate and he should not run for office.” The NRSC also pulled out of a joint fundraising agreement with Moore's campaign.
Gardner’s NRSC, which is in charge of fundraising and portioning out money to current and prospective Republican Senate candidates, has been staunch in its opposition to Moore since then, despite the Republican National Committee again fundraising for Moore and President Trump actively campaigning for the embattled former judge.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he would let the voters of Alabama decide whether Moore is fit to serve in the Senate, though he also said he had hoped Moore would withdraw his candidacy and suggested that the congressional ethics committee investigate Moore if he wins next Tuesday.
The Denver Post reported Friday, citing talks with seven Republican senators, that there is little being done at the moment to prepare for Moore’s possible expulsion.
“There has been no discussion in caucus,” Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told The Post’s Mark Matthews.
Alabama voters will decide on Tuesday between Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones, an attorney who prosecuted two KKK members who blew up a Baptist church in 1963. Money has poured into the race since the allegations were made against Moore, with Democrats eyeing a chance to steal the seat back from Republicans. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions vacated the Senate seat when he was confirmed.
Moore has vehemently denied all the allegations against him.
