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When President Donald Trump went down to Alabama to rally on behalf of Sen. Luther Strange — who had filled the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions — he seemed to express some misgivings in his support even as he encouraged others to vote for him in a special primary run-off election.

When Strange ultimately lost that special election to former Judge Roy Moore, Trump was reportedly quite angry, according to CNN — not so much at Strange for losing, but at himself and those who had convinced him to ignore his own intuition and back the wrong candidate.

Various unnamed advisors and officials within the White House stated that Trump felt he had been misled about Strange’s chances of winning by the likes of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, members of McConnell’s staff and other establishment-linked political operatives.

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As for “Big Luther” himself, Trump seemed to like him and certainly appreciated his loyalty in supporting the MAGA agenda — which is the crux of why he agreed to support him — but nevertheless lumped him in with former presidential primary rival Jeb Bush as being “low energy.”

Trump ultimately became aware that he had backed the wrong horse when he saw former staffers and supporters like Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka successfully stumping hard on Moore’s behalf, and despite his anger at being attached to the loss, felt vindicated afterward that his initial intuition had been correct that the outsider Moore would prevail over the establishment-backed Strange.

According to Politico, Trump suspected Strange would lose prior to the election, and he had his suspicions confirmed the night before votes were cast while having dinner with conservative activists in the White House.

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Trump hadn’t wanted to get involved in the race at all, but felt pressured to do so by certain advisors and strategists, and decided to commit because of the loyalty shown by Strange, even as he regretted that decision.

“He seemed like he didn’t know the state of play and what was going on. I don’t think he has been given good advice,” explained an unnamed person who had discussed the election with Trump. “He didn’t know exactly where the numbers stood or what was happening on the ground.”

Nevertheless, Trump immediately threw his support behind Moore following the election and began looking for ways to put the loss behind him, hopeful that it wouldn’t become a drag.

Given all of the other things going on right now, and the fact that Moore is most likely a better fit with Trump’s agenda than Strange was, this incident probably won’t have much of an effect on Trump or his base in the long run. It could even help a little bit, as he displayed once again how much he prizes loyalty.

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H/T The Right Scoop

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