Why Lindsey Graham says Trump was 'correct' about Alabama

South Carolina’s U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham thinks President Donald Trump was exactly right about the special Senate election in Alabama – at least initially.

Trump endorsed GOP candidate and former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in Tuesday’s election, even after Moore faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct with teenaged girls.

Moore lost Tuesday to Democrat Doug Jones, a potentially major defeat for Trump and congressional Republicans as they fight to pass their agenda with a slim U.S. Senate majority.

But Graham noted, on Twitter Wednesday, Trump’s initial “instincts” had been correct. In last month’s GOP primary, Trump supported Moore’s opponent Luther Strange.

“When it comes to Alabama politics Steve Bannon should have followed President @realDonaldTrump (sic) lead in supporting Luther Strange,” Graham tweeted, referring to Trump’s controversial former adviser who supported Moore in the primary.

“Trump’s instincts on the Alabama race proved to be correct.”

Graham tweeted his praise after he spent the weekend golfing with Trump at one of the president’s golf properties and drew criticism for promoting the course. The two have become unusual allies after Graham was sharply critical of Trump during last year’s presidential election.

Trump took up the same line of argument as Graham in an early morning tweet on Wednesday.

“The reason I originally endorsed Luther Strange (and his numbers went up mightily), is that I said Roy Moore will not be able to win the General Election,” Trump tweeted. “I was right! Roy worked hard but the deck was stacked against him!”

Strange was appointed to replace former U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions. Sessions resigned in January to become Trump’s attorney general.

But Strange lost the nomination to Moore, who was supported by Bannon as a conservative outsider who would shake up Washington.

Moore had twice been Alabama’s chief justice. Both times, he was removed for defying federal court orders. In 2003, he refused to remove a 10 Commandments monument he had installed in the courthouse. In 2016, he ordered probate judges not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, even after the Supreme Court ruled such a policy was unconstitutional.

Support for Moore, however, drained away after a series of accusations about his past conduct with underage girls were published. That led Alabama voters Tuesday to elect their state’s first Democratic U.S. senator in 25 years.

This story was originally published December 13, 2017 at 11:48 AM with the headline "Why Lindsey Graham says Trump was 'correct' about Alabama."