During Thursday night’s contentious Lincoln-Douglas-style debate for a seat in the U.S. Senate, Judge Roy Moore called out former lobbyist Luther Strange for “hypocrisy” and being a part of the D.C. swamp that helped kill thousands of United States jobs.
Moore told the audience that Strange “has been a professional lobbyist for over 23 years.” He further clarified, “From 1980 to 2003, 2008 he earned 6.674 million dollars during the nine year period, from his lobbying disclosure form, from 1999 to 2008.”
Moore said he pointed out that Strange, while working as a lobbyist for over two decades, kept a half million dollar condo at 801 Pennsylvania Ave which is about 6-7 blocks from the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
“What do lobbyists do? They represent special interests,” said Moore, who then pointed out that Strange represented Russell Corporation when he urged passage of CAFTA, the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
Moore continued:
It cost United States over 4,240 jobs. Gone to Mexico and Honduras. Textile and sewing plants were closed in La Fayette, Alexander City and Sylacauga.
You know President Trump had it right when he ran. The first thing he did, say, he was gonna get rid of lobbyists. But I tell you, you don’t get rid of lobbyists in the swamp by sending them to the United States Senate. This is pure hypocrisy in this race.
Strange’s campaign ads have declared that he will “Kill unfair trade deals,” but as Breitbart News reported on Thursday, the political appointee formerly lobbied on behalf of Russell leading up to passage of CAFTA. Strange’s firm was paid $660,000 for his lobbying efforts, and the year after CAFTA was passed, Russell announced plans to cut 1,250 jobs from Alabama and thousands more elsewhere from it’s workforce. Down the road the company was acquired by another, and more jobs were cut in Alex City and Wetumpka, Alabama.
During Thursday night’s debate, Moore went on to explain that there had been an earlier debate in the works, but it turned out that the individual that was attempting to set it up was the treasurer for the Senate Leadership Fund, which has run attack ads against Moore, in support of Strange. The Sen. Mitch McConnell-linked PAC has sunk millions of dollars into the race in support of establishment pick Strange.
Moore then explained how he quietly, behind the scenes, told the organizers that he wasn’t going to participate in that debate.
“Obviously something was rigged,” Moore said of the debate that the Treasurer for a Strange-supporting organization was putting together. He went on to read an article about the cancellation, noting that he wasn’t asked why he canceled on that debate. He read that Strange’s campaign was quoted in the article, attacking Moore for not participating and indicating Moore wouldn’t answer constituents’ questions.
“When I talk about hypocrisy, I’m talking about a man who missed eight of 12 forums, debates if you will, some of the candidates are sitting here,” said Moore. “And when he did come, no questions were asked him. That’s why we canceled the debate. And I’ll tell you, that’s why we set this debate up so that you, ladies and gentlemen in the public, can understand who’s running and the qualifications of this office.”
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana
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