The Republican Senators Maintaining Endorsements of Roy Moore. Why?

As more salacious allegations come out against GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore, the heat has been increasing on Republicans to separate themselves from the man. However, Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rand Paul (Ky.), both longtime darlings of constitutional conservatives, have yet to revoke their endorsement of Moore or, in light of the growing allegations, explain why they are continuing to endorse him.

Rand Paul deserves some grace after the assault he experienced on Nov. 3, but the senator returned to work Monday and it’s not as if a statement on Moore takes a lot of time or effort.

Senators, including Mike Lee (Utah), Bill Cassidy (La.), and Cruz’s fellow Texas Senator John Cornyn, have renounced their endorsements of Moore.

The chair of the Republican National Senatorial Committee, Cory Gardner (Colo.), called for Moore to step aside on Monday. The Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell (Ky.), also said he believes Moore’s accusers and thinks he needs to step down.

Moore has veritably no support left from the GOP. It leaves one open to wonder why two of the most well-known conservative senators are the only ones left staying mum on their endorsements.

The two are known for their contrarian ways and often going against the grain of standard GOP orthodoxy, — indeed, it’s what conservatives have loved most about the two over the years — but one would hope in a case like this that would not even enter into the calculus.

So, again, why are they the only two not addressing their endorsement, either to defend or renounce?

The closest Ted Cruz has come to addressing his endorsement is a weak-kneed response on who Alabamans should support. No response to requests for comment have been received from Rand Paul’s office.

I don’t believe Cruz or Paul should be harangued into unendorsing Moore if they don’t want to. However, they do owe their constituents, supporters, and donors an explanation and justification for why they are continuing to endorse a man facing more than a handful of allegations ranging from inappropriate relationships with minors to outright sexual assault.

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