Beleaguered GOP Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore took a shot at Mitt Romney on Twitter after the onetime Republican presidential contender ripped Moore on Monday.
Romney tweeted that Moore’s presence in the Senate would be a “stain on the GOP and the nation.” Moore, in turn, suggested Romney had “lost his courage.”
The Twitter tiff occurred just hours after President Donald Trump threw his full support behind Moore despite the accusations of sexual misconduct against the candidate by multiple women.
Romney started it by calling the women who spoke out against Moore “courageous” and declaring that “no majority is worth losing our honor, our integrity.”
The “no majority” comment appeared to be a dig as well at Trump, who earlier in the day said “we need” Moore in the Senate to help advance the GOP’s agenda.
At least nine women have come forward to accuse Moore of sexual harassment and assault, including several who were in their teens at the time.
Moore, who has denied the accusations, fired back that Romney “doesn’t care about truth anymore.” He hailed “America’s reawakening ... led by @realDonaldTrump.” The candidate also used a signature Trump adjective: “Sad day!”
Some people on Twitter were harshly critical of Moore, with many pointing out that a woman he said he didn’t recall dating when she was a teen has shown a graduation note he wrote her to The Washington Post. Debbie Wesson Gibson, who called Moore a “liar,” said that she was just 17 and he was 34 when the two dated.
Trump has been attempting to thwart a potentially successful run for the Senate by Romney, Politico reports, by trying to convince seven-term Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), 83, to seek re-election.
Trump phoned Moore on Monday to express his full support, and Moore said the president ended the call by exhorting, “Go get ’em, Roy!”