While former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has not made an official decision to jump into the 2020 U.S. Senate race in Alabama, Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) believes the failed 2017 GOP nominee could announce his candidacy within the coming days.
“People who I believe know what they’re talking about say that Judge Moore intends to announce his candidacy for the Senate in June. I welcome him to the race,” Byrne said in an interview with The Hill.
While he has not spoken directly with Moore, Byrne said those conversations occurred within the last week, according to his sources close to Moore.
“I think people are very concerned that we Republicans lost a U.S. Senate seat because he was our nominee in 2017 and we don’t need to do that again,” Byrne said in the interview.
Byrne also said Moore’s baggage “hasn’t gone away.”
He added, “There are some serious pieces of litigation that have come out of all that. I personally don’t want to talk about any of that; I want to talk about how we’re going to beat Doug Jones. But I think it’s inevitable it’s going to come up in the primary campaign, and if he was the nominee, it certainly would come up in the general election.”
Moore responded to Byrne through Twitter on Tuesday, questioning why Byrne is “so worried.”
What is Bradley so worried about? https://t.co/G0kgj4caIP
— Judge Roy Moore (@RealJudgeMoore) May 28, 2019
“What is Bradley so worried about,” Moore asked in a tweet, which linked to Byrne’s interview with The Hill.
Moore, who lost to Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) in Alabama’s 2017 United States Senate special election, also joked and said of Byrne, “He knows that if I run I will beat Doug Jones.”
He knows that if I run I will beat Doug Jones.
— Judge Roy Moore (@RealJudgeMoore) May 28, 2019
If he does officially enter the race, Moore would join Byrne, former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville and State Rep. Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs) in challenging for Jones’ seat.
Kyle Morris also contributes daily to Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @RealKyleMorris.