Kellyanne Conway’s Weird Pivot On Roy Moore: Tax Bill Needs Vote

WASHINGTON, DC — Days after telling “Fox & Friends” “there is no Senate seat worth more than a child,” White House counselor Kellyanne Conway made a stunning pivot on the same program Monday, seeming to suggest that that Alabamians set aside their queasiness about voting for Republican Roy Moore, now accused by seven women of sexual misconduct, because the GOP tax overhaul needs his vote.

Moore and his Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, are neck-and-neck in polls since the bombshell report by The Washington Post in which four women accused Moore of sexual impropriety when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. Since then, three more women have come forward with sexual misconduct allegations against Moore.

President Trump has said Alabama voters should make the decision on who their next senator should be and has called the allegations troubling, but has remained largely silent on the scandal. Trump has no plans to campaign for Moore, Conway said Monday.

Republicans have a thin 52-48 edge in the Senate, and that’s stood in the way of any legislative victories — which Trump sorely needs with tax reform. Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has already said he won’t support his party’s tax bill, and its passage hinges on the ability of Republican leadership to address issues raised by Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Bob Corker of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona, who aren’t running for reelection in 2018.

Without specifically saying Alabamians should cast ballots for Roy Moore, Conway they should “want to vote to get this tax bill through.”

“Doug Jones in Alabama, folks, don’t be fooled,” she said. “He will be a vote against tax cuts. He is weak on crime. Weak on borders. He’s strong on raising your taxes. He is terrible for property owners. And Doug Jones is a doctrinaire liberal, which is why he’s not saying anything and why the media are trying to boost him.”

Conway took a shot at Democratic Sens. Al Franken of Minnesota, who has been accused of groping two women, and Bob Menendez of New Jersey, whose corruption case ended in a mistrial, saying they would be out of jobs “if the media were really concerned about all of these allegations.”

Conway didn’t offer much in rebuttal when hosts Brian Kilmeade and Ainsley Earhardt reminded her that several of Moore’s accusers said they were teenagers when the alleged acts took place.

“Right,” Conway responded. “And you know what? I just want everybody to know Doug Jones — nobody ever says his name and pretends he is some kind of conservative Democrat in Alabama. And he’s not.”

On the same program last week, Conway said that “whatever the facts end up being, the premises, of course, the incontrovertible principle, is that there is no Senate seat worth more than a child, and we all want that to come forward.”

“I have three daughters and a son, frankly, and we all are watching this.”

Moore, who was twice elected and twice removed from the Alabama Supreme Court, has denied the accusations. He has pledged to remain in the race to fill the remainder of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ term. It expires in January 2020.

White House Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday after Conway’s comments that Trump’s position hasn’t changed, but said, “Obviously, the president wants people both in the House and the Senate who support his agenda."

Many Republican leaders have asked Moore to step down, but even if he did, his name would still appear on the ballot.

Also See: Senator Jeff Flake Urges Speedy Tax Vote Amid Moore Scandal

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