By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Tuesday, October 18, 2016, Democratic candidate for US Senate Ron Crumpton said, that Shelby has sold out for his own reelection, after a spokesperson for Shelby’s campaign said, “Senator Shelby has always said that he will support the Republican ticket.”
Crumpton said, “It is getting harder and harder to comprehend how Dick Shelby, or anyone else, can still support the Republican Party’s nominee…In a presidential candidate, character is everything. In the last week, Donald Trump has demonstrated that he has none.”
Crumpton continued, “At this point, I cannot prove the allegations of sexual assault against Donald Trump are true, and I cannot prove the allegations are false. Therefore, we are going to look at the other issues that arose last week. That gives us plenty to look at.”
Crumpton said, “While we are not looking at the accusations, that does not mean that we are going to overlook the comments that Donald Trump made to Billy Bush. It is more than just a little disconcerting that a candidate for the presidency has bragged that he could sexually assault women and get away with it because he is a star…If that had been the only comment about how Trump uses his star status to abuse women, it would be enough to raise serious concerns, but similar comments soon surfaced from the Howard Stern show…The Trump Campaign has tried to dismiss these comments as ‘locker-room banter.’ That it was just guys being guys. I am sorry, I have been in many locker rooms in my life, and I have never heard anything of that nature.”
Crumpton charged that Trump’s statements, and the way his campaign has defended them has sent a dangerous message to young men telling them that, “It is okay for powerful men to use women as nothing more than a play thing. Trump is telling them that it is okay for the strong to abuse the weak and that everyone should just drop it and get to the real issues.”
The Alabama Democrat said, “Why would Dick Shelby support a man that goes against everything Shelby claims he has supported his entire career in politics? Why would Dick Shelby stand beside a man who is totally unqualified to be president?”
Crumpton said that Richard Shelby knows that if he stands up for what he believes in, it will cost him the election, because he knows that he cannot win without the support of Trump voters, “So Dick Shelby is doing what he has done throughout his entire career. He is selling out his political beliefs and the people of Alabama to serve his own personal agenda, which is to get re-elected at any cost.”
Ron Crumpton is challenging longtime incumbent Richard Shelby, who was first elected in 1986. The last Alabama Democrat to win a US Senate seat was Richard Shelby running for reelection in 1992. No Democrat has won a statewide race in Alabama since 1998.
Crumpton ran unsuccessfully for the State Senate against Sen. Jim McClendon (R-Springville) in 2014. Crumpton has advocated for marijuana legalization for years.
The General Election will be heard on November 8, 2016.
