Roy Moore campaign touts support from dubious Indiana group
NOV 28 2017, 9:53 PM ET
by VAUGHN HILLYARD, MIKE MEMOLI and CARRIE DANN
FORT PAYNE, Ala. — Largely abandoned by the national Republican Party but eager to reinforce President Donald Trump’s tacit support for his candidacy, Alabama Senate hopeful Roy Moore on Tuesday touted the endorsement of a super PAC his campaign described as having been founded by “seasoned campaign veterans” who helped power Trump’s victory in 2016.
But the organization now backing the controversial candidate ahead of the Dec. 12 special election was founded just weeks ago by a 24-year-old aspiring political operative who acknowledged to NBC News Tuesday that he’s trying to disassociate himself from white nationalist organizations he appeared to have affiliated with in the past.
The situation speaks to the degree to which Moore’s campaign is understaffed and underfunded, seemingly unable to perform a basic check of a previously unknown political entity, IndianaFirst, or its leader, Caleb Shumaker, who has had ties to a fringe party considered a hate group by leading civil rights organizations.
The Moore campaign press release announcing support from the IndianaFirst Super PAC quoted Shumaker, listed as the organization’s president, praising Moore as a threat to the “do-nothing agenda” of “Washington elites,” and vowing that his organization would work on the ground to power him to victory.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/roy-moore-campaign-touts-support-dubious-indiana-group-n824786