Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore told Religious Right radio host Sandy Rios this morning that it is “completely ridiculous” that people have called him racist.
Moore appeared on American Family Radio’s “Sandy Rios in the Morning” today in advance of tomorrow’s special election in Alabama. During the interview, Rios asked Moore to respond to comments made by former NBA star Charles Barkley in which he told reporters that “Roy Moore is running with Steve Bannon as his right-hand man, who is a white separatist.” Barkley was referring to Bannon’s past support for the racist alt-right movement and his reputation among white supremacists.
“A white nationalist is campaigning for me? I don’t know any white nationalists campaigning for me,” Moore said, going on to suggest that Barkley’s criticism should be ignored because Barkley has criticized him for years.
Moore denied that he is racist, despite being revealed to have said that the last time the United States was great was before the Civil War and that the 14th Amendment is too restrictive. As we have noted as well, much of Moore’s political career has been funded by a man associated with the pro-secessionist group League of the South.
To bolster his argument that he is not racist, Moore cited one black supporter.
“This issue of racism is completely ridiculous. I’m not a racist. I don’t stand against people because of the color of their skin. I believe that our founding documents quite clearly point out God made us all equal and created us in his own image,” Moore said.
Later in the interview, Moore claimed to have a “great amount of support in the black community.”
