President Donald Trump used a telephone rally Thursday to give another nod to Rep. Barry Moore, who is in a tough fight for Alabama’s U.S. Senate seat against ex-Navy SEAL Jared Hudson.
Trump’s endorsement helped propel Moore to lead the Republican field in the May primary, placing ahead of Hudson by about 14 points. The Enterprise congressman has continued to lean on the president’s backing during the final stretch of the campaign.
“He’s the best America First candidate you can imagine, and he’s been with me since the very beginning,” Trump said on the call.
But in the final days before Tuesday’s Republican runoff, the race has intensified over questions about Moore’s military service record. The topic has now spurred ads from groups supporting both candidates. And the issue was also present during the telephone rally.
Moore called himself an “Army National Guard veteran” on the call, representing that he served about 2.5 years in the National Guard and another 5.5 years in the Reserves.
Trump said the congressman is “very proud to be a veteran.”
This week, Moore’s campaign has strongly rebuffed claims that he’s misrepresented his service. The Senate hopeful contends that while he never deployed or served in a combat role, he stands behind his time in the National Guard. His campaign also released documents detailing his military records in response to the swirling questions.
In a press conference just before Trump’s telephone rally for Moore, Hudson again questioned Moore’s service record as a group of veterans stood behind the former Navy SEAL candidate.
“This is about honesty, transparency, and consistency, because public records matter, military records matter, words matter, and when a candidate asks the people of Alabama for their trust, the people of Alabama have every right to ask questions and to understand exactly what is being claimed and what those claims actually mean,” Hudson said.
During the call, Trump described Moore as a “terrific guy” and a “friend of MAGA almost like nobody else.”
Though the president conceded that he also favors U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala, who Moore and Hudson are vying to succeed.
Trump also urged Alabama voters to support Tuberville in his bid for governor and Republican lieutenant governor candidate John Wahl, who the president also endorsed earlier this year.
Recent polling for the Senate race has shown it will all come down to which voters head to the polls on Tuesday, with some surveys showing Hudson ahead and others having Moore in the lead.
“Every conservative who stays at home makes it harder for our president, President Trump, who we love, to have the team he needs in Washington,” Moore said.
Trump’s endorsements have been a success so far this cycle, toppling incumbent senators in Louisiana and Texas, making the upcoming Alabama runoffs crucial for assessing his influence as a kingmaker.
Iran
During the telephone rally, Trump also made brief remarks on the war against Iran, saying the United States “settled up with Iran” on Thursday.
“We made a great deal,” Trump said. “There’ll be no nuclear weapons. People will start coming home very soon. It’s pretty much completed. We got everything we wanted.”
Earlier Thursday, the president said in the Oval Office, “We just made a great settlement with Iran.” Adding that the deal would be finalized in the coming days. The announcement came just hours after Trump posted on social media that the U.S. would hit Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT.”