By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Monday, the Roy Moore for U.S. Senate Campaign Manager Bill Armistead said that Moore’s opponent, “Doug Jones would be a disaster for our armed forces.”
“In 2012, Doug Jones was a proud delegate to the national Democratic convention in Charlotte that nominated Barack Obama for a second term as president. During the Obama administration, the United States military was severely hollowed out with the support of people like Doug Jones,” the Moore campaign charged in a statement.
“Doug Jones has been joined at the hip with Barack Obama for years. It was at the 2012 Democratic convention, where Doug Jones was serving as a delegate, that the Democratic delegates voted to remove God from their platform. It was during Obama’s two terms as president that there were significant cuts in spending and personnel for the American armed forces,” Armistead said in a statement on Monday.
“Under Obama, the active Army went from 562,000 soldiers in 2012 down to 475,000 in January of 2017, while total Pentagon spending went from $691 billion in 2009 down to $580 billion in 2015,” Armistead said. “Further, at the end of Obama’s term, the Navy had only 272 ships – the lowest number the Navy has had since 1916.”
“On the landing page of his campaign website, Doug Jones lists ten values that he says he’ll take to Washington, but he says not a single word about combating terrorism or strengthening the military,” Armistead said. “Even under the ‘issues and priorities’ section of his campaign site, Doug Jones has not one word to say about the importance of the military or his position on defense and foreign policy.”
“While Jones doesn’t show support for the military, he has repeatedly said that he supports athletes who disrespect our country and flag by kneeling during the playing of the national anthem. Doug Jones has his priorities completely upside down,” Armistead said.
“Like Barack Obama, Doug Jones would be a disaster for our armed forces and for the 117,000 Alabamians who work in support of our military personnel,” Chairman Armistead concluded.
Doug Jones was a U.S. attorney from 1997 to 2002. He was appointed by President William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton (D).
Defense is a major industry in Alabama where many defense contractors have operations. During the presidency of Barack Obama, Democrats in the Congress pushed for deep defense cuts.
Moore is an alumnus of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a veteran of the Vietnam War.
Moore will face Doug Jones in the Dec. 12, 2017 special election for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions.
