A liberal group hired a panel truck emblazoned with Ivanka Trump’s criticism of Alabama Sen. candidate Roy Moore, leaving the truck parked near the rally held by President Donald Trump in Pensacola, Florida, on Friday.
The truck was plastered with Ivanka’s words delivered after the first accusations against the Alabama Republican were made public last month. The sign on the truck read, “Ivanka Trump on Roy Moore: ‘There’s a special place in hell for people who prey on children.'”
The first daughter made the comment to the Associated Press on November 15, adding that she had “yet to see a valid explanation and I have no reason to doubt the victims’ accounts.”
The words on the truck placard were in contrast to the president’s comments at the rally in Florida where he endorsed Judge Roy Moore for the U.S. Senate and urged Alabamians to vote for him.
“We cannot afford — this country, the future of this country — cannot afford to lose a seat in the very, very close United States Senate,” Trump said during the December 8 rally. “We can’t afford it, folks. We can’t afford to have a liberal Democrat who is completely controlled by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. His name is Jones, and he’s their puppet.”
“We need somebody in that Senate seat who will vote for our ‘Make America Great Again’ agenda, which involves tough on crime, tough on borders … building the wall, strengthening our military, continuing our great fight for our veterans,” he added. “We want jobs, jobs, jobs, so get out and vote for Roy Moore.”
During the rally, the president also focused on an economy that has come roaring back after eight years of Obama, saluted our soldiers, talked again of building a wall on our southern border, and wished the nation a Merry Christmas. The latter was in strong contrast to the fear President Obama had of openly celebrating the Christmas season.
The morning after, the president highlighted his rally by noting on Twitter that there was a “big contingent of very enthusiastic Roy Moore fans at the rally last night,” before going on to warn the nation against allowing Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer to control Congress.
American Bridge, the group responsible for the panel truck billboard, slammed Trump for his support of Moore.
“Try as Trump and the Republican Party might, there’s no way to escape the truth about Roy Moore or Ivanka Trump’s own words,” American Bridge spokeswoman Allison Teixeira Sulier said in a statement. “It’s a disgusting new low that the President, the RNC, and the rest of the Republican Party are trying to help send a pedophile to the US Senate, and the American people won’t soon forget it.”
The charge that Moore is a “pedophile,” though, is a false charge whether you agree with underage dating or not. A pedophile is only sexually interested in pre-pubescent children. Indeed, the word child has a legal meaning and teenagers are minors, not children. People 14 and above are not considered to be children and are also not the target of pedophiles.
You may disagree with the age of consent being under 18 — as it was 40 years ago in Alabama (16) at the time Moore was accused of seeking young women to date. But Moore hasn’t been accused of seeking out pre-pubescent children, and therefore he is not a fit for the term “pedophile.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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