Trump touts Roy Moore as a job creator and himself as a better deregulator than 'Honest Abe Lincoln'


President Trump visited the Florida panhandle city of Pensacola, close to the Alabama border, Friday night to rally for Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, who has been credibly accused of sexual harassment and assault by multiple women, in a final push before Tuesday's special election. The president cast Moore as a champion of job creation who would "vote for our 'Make America Great Again' agenda." By contrast, he said, Moore's "liberal Democrat" rival, Doug Jones, is "completely controlled" by Democratic leadership and will "never, ever vote for us."
Trump also touted his own administration at length, boasting that he has cut more regulations than "Honest Abe Lincoln." He argued that his accomplishments come in spite of enormous opposition from "powerful forces in Washington," "very, very bad and evil people" who are "trying to sabotage our movement" for personal gain.
In a series of tweets Saturday morning, Trump claimed the rally was "packed to the rafters" with a "big contingent of very enthusiastic Roy Moore fans," though photos suggest the crowd had more fervor than size. Watch an excerpt of the speech in which Trump discusses Moore below, or read the full transcript here. Bonnie Kristian
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Update 5:56 p.m: The tweet linked above from The Washington Post's Dave Weigel unintentionally misrepresented the crowd size in the arena. President Trump called attention to more accurate photos, and Weigel has retracted his post and apologized for the error.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetime
Feature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Book reviews: ‘We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution’ and ‘Will There Ever Be Another You’
Feature The many attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution and Patricia Lockwood’s struggle with long Covid
-
Philadelphia’s Calder Gardens
Feature A permanent new museum
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies