Trump: Dems will win Alabama Senate seat if Moore wins primary

President Trump said that a GOP primary win by Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore will open the seat for a Democratic general election win during a radio appearance Monday.

Trump, who traveled to Alabama Friday to stump for Sen. Luther Strange (R), told the syndicated “Rick and Bubba” radio show based out of Birmingham, Ala., that Democrats will pour millions of dollars into the election if their candidate, Doug Jones, goes up against Moore.

“Luther Strange is going to be a great Senator. He loves Alabama, he loves the states and he loves the country. He will absolutely win against the Democrat,” Trump said, according to AL.com.

{mosads}“Ray will have a hard time. If Luther wins, the Democrats will hardly fight. If Ray wins, [Democrats] will pour in $30 million,” he said, repeatedly referring to Moore by the wrong name.

When host Rick Burgess pointed out that Moore’s name is Roy, Trump responded that it’s “not a good sign” if the president doesn’t know his name.

“I don’t know that much about Roy Moore. Roy Moore is going to have a very hard time getting elected against the Democrat,” Trump said. “Against Luther they won’t even fight.”

The latest polls for Alabama’s Senate GOP primary runoff show Moore holding a sizable lead over Strange, including a 10 point lead in an Emerson College poll released Sunday.

Conservatives like Sarah Palin and Stephen Bannon have backed Moore as an anti-establishment Republican. Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, will campaign for Moore in Alabama Monday night.

Vice President Pence will hold a Monday night rally for Strange, who was appointed to the Senate earlier this year by then-Gov. Robert Bentley (R) after then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) was named attorney general.

The primary is in its final hours as voters head to the polls Tuesday. The general election to serve out the remainder of Sessions’s term is Dec. 12.