Blake Shuart: How Trump will handle Alabama’s election night

For President Trump, his appointment of Jeff Sessions as the country’s top prosecutor is the gift that keeps on giving.

First, Sessions’ recusal as to all things Russia paved the way for the special counsel, Robert Mueller, who continues to be one gigantic investigative thorn in the president’s side. Fresh off his first wave of indictments, Mueller is now reportedly probing the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his contacts with foreign leaders, interviewing key White House aides on various topics, and even requesting production of e-mails related to Sessions’ decision to recuse himself.

And while he’s grappling with the Russia probe, the commander-in-chief has a new political landmine on his hands – the embattled special election to fill Sessions’ vacated seat in the U.S. Senate. Things started off poorly for the president when he picked the wrong horse in the Republican primary – throwing his weight behind the establishment pick and appointed incumbent, “Big” Luther Strange, instead of Roy Moore, the veteran Alabama politician who actually rode a horse to the polls to vote for himself.

The primary battle pitted the president against his former campaign chief and top advisor, Stephen Bannon – a big Moore backer who took immense pleasure in thrashing his former boss’s chosen candidate. Trump reportedly had reservations about getting involved in the race to begin with, and was miffed at having picked a loser. In hindsight, he probably picked the better horse – albeit a losing one.

According to his accusers, it turns out that Moore has some skeletons of underage girls tucked away in his closet. Of course, the candidate vehemently denies these accusations, and has taken a page out of the president’s playbook in waging a vigorous counterattack against his accusers. But the accusations have already compromised what was once a heavily-favored campaign, and with two weeks until the election, Moore is no longer a runaway favorite to defeat his Democratic opponent, Doug Jones.

Trump tried to stay out of the fray in the aftermath of these accusations, but ultimately could not restrain himself, and has now become a vocal Moore supporter. In defense of the Republican candidate, the president has noted that Moore “totally denies” the accusations.

It’s now time for Trump to do some serious strategizing. When the election results come in Dec. 12, all eyes will be on the president’s Twitter account. Whether Moore wins or loses, the country will be waiting for the president’s reaction. And in the likely event that Trump’s accusers come forward again at some point in the future, his handling of Moore could come back to haunt him.

Trump should have two, heavily-vetted Tweets ready to go on election night.

If Moore wins, Trump will likely praise his candidate for overcoming vicious, unfounded, and opportunistic accusations – just as he believes that he once did.

And if Moore loses, the president will likely stay away from the accusations entirely – instead reminding everyone that he first backed Strange, the only candidate capable of winning the general election.

Regardless of who wins, the president will be glad when the bright lights are off Moore – a fellow Republican with whom he shares much more than mere party affiliation.

This story was originally published November 27, 2017 at 4:40 AM with the headline "Blake Shuart: How Trump will handle Alabama’s election night."