Michael Steele, the former head of the Republican National Committee, said President Trump’s tacit endorsement of Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore who’s been accused of sexually molesting minors would do “irreparable harm” to the GOP and the country.
“This is beyond stupid. And there’s the irreparable harm that’s being done to this party and to this country. Someone needs to take control here and it’s certainly not the president,” Steele said on MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews.”
He called the president’s comments about Moore “sickening” and said Trump and former White House strategist Steve Bannon, who’s backing Moore, don’t care about the nine women who have come forward to accuse the Republican candidate of sexual misconduct.
“That’s what’s so sickening about what the president did today. And every self-respecting Republican needs to stand up and say ‘enough, you cannot side with Roy Moore on this,'” Steele said on Tuesday evening’s show.
“You got nine women who come out – credible – laid their case out there, made that case to the people of Alabama, and the president is going to sit there and say, ‘he didn’t do it,'” Steele continued.
Speaking at the White House on Tuesday before heading to his Florida resort for the Thanksgiving holiday, Trump said Moore “denies” the claims.
“Well, he denies it. Look, he denies it. … He totally denies it. He says it didn’t happen,” Trump said.
The president then went on to trash Moore’s opponent, Democrat Doug Jones, in the special election for Dec. 12, saying he’s a “liberal” who’s soft on crime.
“I’ve looked at his record. It’s terrible on crime. It’s terrible on the border. It’s terrible on the military,” Trump said Tuesday afternoon.
Trump, who has faced allegations of sexual misconduct during his campaign and was caught on a tape released last October admitting to groping women, said it’s “good” that female victims of sexual harassment and assault are coming forward.
“Women are very special. I think it’s a very special time, a lot of things are coming out and I think that’s good for our society and I think it’s very very good for women and I’m very happy,” he said.
Moore has denied the sexual accusations, calling them “fake news” and saying they are part of the establishment Republican Party’s effort to wreck his campaign.
