Hiccup for Moore's Campaign: His Spokesman Is Out

As his campaign tussles again with the Washington Post
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 23, 2017 8:02 AM CST

A hiccup for Roy Moore's Alabama Senate campaign: communications director John Rogers has resigned, reports Reuters, which quotes the campaign's chair as saying Wednesday, "Campaigns make changes throughout the duration of the campaign. John made the decision to leave the campaign last Friday—any representations to the contrary are false—and we wish him well." In terms of one representation to the contrary, Dan Gallo of Fox News tweeted a quote from Moore campaign adviser Brett Doster: "Unfortunately John just did not have the experience to deal with the press the last couple of weeks, and we've had to make a change." More developments:

  • A political action committee that's backing Moore is trumpeting comments President Trump made Tuesday about the candidate. The AP describes it as a Thanksgiving-themed email with the subject line "Giving thanks for YOU and OUR PRESIDENT!" Trump didn't explicitly endorse the embattled candidate, but he seemed to come pretty close, saying, "We don't need a liberal person in there, a Democrat." "We are thankful that his last words before leaving the White House to celebrate Thanksgiving were the strong words of support for Roy Moore," reads the email from the group Solution Fund PAC.

  • The Washington Post reports that Moore's campaign has yet to provide evidence that it says undermines Leigh Corfman's account of being picked up for dates by a 32-year-old Moore when she was 14. "According to records the media has not bothered to look at, we’ve been able to find that Corfman’s supposed pickup place was almost a mile away from her mother’s house and would have been across a major thoroughfare," a Moore aide said Tuesday. The Post says both Corfman and her mother confirmed their 1979 address in Gadsden, Ala., as being "around the corner" from the alleged pick-up spot. Doster told the Post this on Wednesday: "The Washington Post is a worthless piece of crap ... we will not respond to anyone from the Post now or in the future. Happy Thanksgiving."
  • As for Moore's Democratic challenger, Slate reports Doug Jones is changing his tactics. Previous campaign ads have played up unity and a desire to work across the aisle, but two new ones confront the Moore allegations for the first time. One offers quotes from Jeff Sessions, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, and Ivanka Trump ("Ivanka Trump says there’s a special place in hell for people who prey on children"). The second ad names the women who have made accusations against Moore, and says, "They were girls when Roy Moore immorally pursued them. Now they are women, witnesses to us all of his disturbing conduct. Will we make their abuser a US Senator?" Molly Olmstead's take: "Jones' campaign seems to think it has to make an effort itself to keep the focus on the allegations."
(More Roy Moore stories.)

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