Senate

Ala. GOP senate candidate Moore previously questioned Obama’s citizenship

by Rebecca Savransky - 08/23/17 8:08 AM ET

Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has in the past raised questions about whether former President Barack Obama is a natural-born citizen.

During a Constitution Party meeting in December, Moore, a GOP candidate in Alabama’s Senate special election, was asked about how he defines natural-born citizen as a qualification for president.

“My opinion is, there is a big question about that,” Moore said, according to CNN’s KFile.

{mosads}”My personal belief is that he wasn’t, but that’s probably over and done in a few days, unless we get something else to come along.”

In 2008, Moore also raised questions about Obama’s citizenship.

“I don’t see any reason a candidate who has such a serious question would not come forward with the truth about where he was born,” Moore said in 2008.

“Obama has the answer,” Moore added. “He knows where he was born. If he tells something that’s untrue that’s another matter. It’s not an Obama issue, it’s an American issue. It’s about the Constitution of the United States.”

Moore has called into question Obama’s citizenship other times since 2008, according to CNN.

According to a recent poll in Alabama’s Senate special election, Moore has a nearly 20 point lead over Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.), whom President Trump has backed. Strange was appointed earlier this year by then-Gov. Robert Bentley (R) to temporarily fill the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Moore won the first battle of the GOP primary earlier this month. The two will face each other in a runoff election for the Republican nomination on Sept. 26.

Tags Barack Obama Jeff Sessions