Wall Street Journal: Bannon ‘is for losers’

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board ripped President Trump’s former chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, in the wake of Alabama Senate Republican nominee Roy Moore’s defeat, saying “Bannon is for losers.” 

“The Alabama result shows that Mr. Bannon cares less about conservative policy victories than he does personal king-making. He wants to depose Mitch McConnell as Majority Leader even if it costs Republicans Senate control. GOP voters, take note: Mr. Bannon is for losers,” the board wrote in an op-ed on Wednesday. 

“The Moore defeat should also be a lesson to the Republican Party, and President Trump, that many GOP voters are still at heart character voters. They will only accept so much misbehavior in a politician, no matter the policy stakes,” the op-ed continued. 

{mosads}”Mr. Trump opposed Mr. Moore in the primary but came around to support him even after the accusations emerged about Mr. Moore’s pursuit of teenage girls while he was in his 30s. The GOP voters who ignored Mr. Trump and rejected Mr. Moore also want a President who acts presidential.”

The op-ed comes less than a day after Democrat Doug Jones defeated Moore, becoming the first Democrat to win a Senate race in Alabama in 25 years.

Moore’s defeat also marks a major blow for Trump and his allies, including Bannon, who hit the campaign trail for Moore in recent days. 

Establishment Republicans, such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), had warned voters against voting for Moore, who had come under intense accusations in the wake of a slew of sexual misconduct allegations against him. 

The McConnell-aligned Senate Leadership Fund also issued a scathing statement targeting Bannon after Moore’s loss on Tuesday. 

“This is a brutal reminder that candidate quality matters regardless of where you are running. Not only did Steve Bannon cost us a critical Senate seat in one of the most Republican states in the country, but he also dragged the United States into his fiasco,” the statement read.