Report: Bannon Breaks With Trump, Backs Roy Moore In Alabama Run-off

White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon listens at right as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting on cyber security in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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Freshly removed from the White House, former chief strategist Steve Bannon is breaking with the President and supporting former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore in the upcoming primary run-off election, Politico reported.

President Donald Trump has been vocal about his support for Moore’s opponent Sen. Luther Stranger (R-AL), who was appointed to take Attorney General Jeff Session’s seat when he joined the administration.

The President tweeted his endorsement of Strange multiple times before the August 15 primary and even recorded a robocall for the senator ahead of the election. Strange also has the support of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

But Bannon — who left the White House more than a week ago and has rejoined the conservative website Breitbart News — said he wanted to rally conservatives to back Moore, according to Politico sources who attended a recent, secret Conservative Action Project meeting.

Moore is a favorite among evangelicals. He was ousted as state chief justice in 2000 for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama judicial building.

He ran for election again in 2012, but was suspended in 2016 for directing judges not to issue same sex marriage licenses.

Since no candidate received at least half the vote in the Aug. 15 primary the state will hold a Sept. 26 runoff election. In the first primary, Moore finished with 39 percent of the vote and Strange received 33 percent.

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