Even Abroad, Trump Can’t Escape Questions About Roy Moore

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and China’s President Xi Jinping head for a joint press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2017.( The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images )
U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and China's President Xi Jinping head for a joint press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2017.( The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images )
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Though President Donald Trump spent last week overseas on a 12-day trip to Asia, questions about Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, accused of sexually pursuing teenage girls when he was in his 30s, followed the President abroad.

As Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up their joint statements to the press in Beijing, they ignored shouted questions from American reporters in the Great Hall of the People. When they ducked backstage, Xi summoned his interpreter and posed an inquiry to Trump:

“Who is Roy Moore?” Xi asked.

That moment, described by two White House officials who weren’t authorized to speak publicly about private conversations, underscores Trump’s domestic challenges. He must grapple with the uncertain fate of his tax cut plan, face the threat of a government shutdown and decide whether to cut ties with Moore, the Republican candidate in Alabama’s special Senate race, who is accused of sexually assaulting underage girls decades ago.

Four women last week alleged that Moore pursued them when they were teenagers and he was in his early 30s. One, Leigh Corfman, alleged that Moore initiated a sexual encounter with her when she was 14 years old.

A fifth woman, Beverly Young Nelson, on Monday alleged that Moore sexually assaulted her and tried to force her to have sex with him when she was 16 years old.

Moore has denied the allegations and remained in the race, amid a flood of Republican officials who have called for him to step down.

Additional reporting by TPM.

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Notable Replies

  1. "Who is Roy Moore?” Xi asked.

    Didn’t Ayn Rand answer that question in Atlas Hugged?

  2. The reporters should have asked about Roy Moore in Viet Nam, he was stationed there during the war.

  3. Ku Klux Keebler can’t even remember who RoyBoy Moore is, or what office he’s even running for, or what state he’s even from…

    “Ah doo declare, I do not recall”

  4. So now we have two dotards with dementia running the government.
    Oops Wilber is dotarder than Don and Jeff, so that’s three dotards running the government.

  5. Avatar for fess fess says:

    “Who is Roy Moore?” Xi asked.

    And he had say he didn’t know because Fox and Friends hadn’t been on to tell him yet, China being 13 hours ahead of Washington DC. It may have been mentioned in the morning briefing, but those are so boring he wasn’t paying any attention.

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