Bannon rips Romney for Moore criticism: ‘He’s still bitter’

Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon on Tuesday ripped Mitt Romney for criticizing Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore, going after the former Republican presidential candidate’s lack of military service.

“You hid behind your religion. You went to France to be a missionary while guys were dying in rice paddies in Vietnam,” Bannon said at a rally for Moore.

Romney, who is Mormon, has been critical of Moore, calling him unfit for office. On Monday, Romney said if Moore were to serve in the Senate, it would be “a stain on the GOP and on the nation.”

“He’s still bitter about Donald Trump. Embrace it Mitt, he is president of the United States, and commander of armed forces, something you so miserably failed at,” Bannon said Tuesday.

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Romney received a missionary deferment during the Vietnam War. President Trump received five deferments from military service in Vietnam.

Bannon spoke at a rally for Moore in Fairhope, Ala., ahead of the Dec. 12 special election against Democrat Doug Jones.

The Breitbart News executive spent the first portion of his speech tearing into establishment Republicans, including Romney, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), all of whom who have been critical of Moore in recent weeks.

Trump endorsed Moore this week despite the GOP candidate facing calls from numerous Republican leaders to drop out of the race in the wake of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct from women who have said he pursued them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s.

One woman said Moore touched her sexually when she was 14 and he was 32, while another woman accused Moore of sexually assaulting her when she was 16.

Bannon has long supported Moore, backing the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice as an anti-establishment candidate during the Republican primary runoff against appointed Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.).