Trump: Moore should concede race

President Trump told reporters on Friday that Roy Moore should “certainly” concede the Alabama Senate race. 

“I think he should,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I want to support the person running. We need the seat. We’d like to have the seat.”  

JUST IN: President Trump says Roy Moore should concede: “I would certainly say he should.” pic.twitter.com/zFcNV66wO7

— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 15, 2017

Trump’s call for Moore to resign echoes comments Thursday from White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

“It probably sounds like it maybe should have already taken place,” Sanders said when asked if Moore should concede. 

The president congratulated Sen.-elect Doug Jones (D) on Tuesday, tweeting “a win is a win.”

Congratulations to Doug Jones on a hard fought victory. The write-in votes played a very big factor, but a win is a win. The people of Alabama are great, and the Republicans will have another shot at this seat in a very short period of time. It never ends!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2017

Jones said on Wednesday that he had spoken on the phone with Trump and that the president had extended an invitation to him to visit the White House.

“He invited me over to the White House to visit as soon as I get up there. Very nice phone call, very pleasant phone call, and I appreciated him very much reaching out to me,” Jones said. 

“He congratulated me and my staff on the way we handled this campaign and went forward. And we talked about finding that common ground to work together,” he continued. 

Trump endorsed Moore in the days leading up to the race, despite the numerous sexual misconduct allegations against the candidate.

The president held a campaign rally last week in Pensacola, Fla., near the Florida-Alabama border, in which he told supporters to vote for Moore. He also recorded a robocall on Moore’s behalf.

Moore has shown no sign of giving up the race.

The former judge said in a video posted on Wednesday that he would not give up the race because he was waiting on the Alabama secretary of State to certify the vote count. 

“We are indeed in a struggle to preserve our republic, our civilization, and our religion and to set free a suffering humanity,” Moore said. “And the battle rages on.”  

Jones defeated Moore in an upset on Tuesday. It was close, but Jones defeated Moore by more than 20,000 votes, taking 49.9 percent of the vote to Moore’s 48.4 percent.