Give up now Trump tells Roy Moore

  • President was asked as he spoke on White House lawn about whether Roy Moore should finally concede in Alabama and replied: ‘I would certainly say he should,’
  • Moore is still refusing to say he lost despite Doug Jones, the Democratic candidate, having a winning margin of 1.5 per cent 
  • Moore, a former judge, is accused by a series of women of preying on them as teenagers, accounts which appear to have cost him the safe Republican seat

President Donald Trump called on fellow Republican Roy Moore on Friday to concede to Democrat Doug Jones in the Alabama U.S. Senate race, following the party’s stinging loss in the southern U.S. state earlier this week.

Moore, whose controversial candidacy was beset by allegations that he sexually assaulted or pursued teenage girls while in his 30s, has so far refused to admit defeat in Tuesday’s election that saw Jones win by 1.5 percentage points with 99 percent of the ballots counted.

The embattled Republican has made two statements since his loss, but has not conceded even as Trump and others have reached out to congratulate Jones, a former prosecutor, on his win.

Give up: Trump said it was time for Roy Moore to concede to Doug Jones. Moore is pinning his homes on a 

Not listening to the president: Roy Moore was last seen on Thursday evening and has still to concede

Not listening to the president: Roy Moore was last seen on Thursday evening and has still to concede

‘I would certainly say he should,’ Trump, who endorsed Moore in the final stage of the campaign, told reporters at the White House.

‘He tried,’ Trump added, referring to Moore’s campaign efforts and reiterating his earlier comments that as the party’s top leader he would have liked to keep the seat in Republican hands.

Jones defeated the former judge in a special election to replace Jeff Sessions, who left the Senate to serve as U.S. Attorney General under Trump. State officials have said the outcome is unlikely to change even as provisional ballots are counted.

The Democratic win would narrow Republicans’ hold on the Senate to 51 out of 100 seats. It has also buoyed Democrats’ hopes of a potential comeback for the party in the 2018 midterm elections.

Moore materialized on YouTube Wednesday night, putting out a message to supporters saying he would stay in the race until all the mail-in ballots were counted

Moore materialized on YouTube Wednesday night, putting out a message to supporters saying he would stay in the race until all the mail-in ballots were counted

The controversial Republican judge was seen with with his wife walking out of his Foundation for Moral Law office in downtown Montgomery on Thursday. 

He had earlier refused to answer DailyMail.com’s questions on Thursday as he was caught walking outside his office.

At the White House Thursday, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president’s actions prove that he believes the race is done.   

‘I think the President’s position is pretty clear, in his outreach to Doug Jones directly, he called and they spoke yesterday,’ Huckabee Sanders said. 

When a reporter followed up and asked if the president thought Moore had lost ‘fair and square,’ the press secretary agreed. 

‘I think the numbers reflect that, and I think the President’s outreach shows that,’ Huckabee Sanders said.      



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk