As Roy Moore divides GOP, Republicans cling to admitted sexual predator Trump to get tax cuts

But those same Republicans are quite fine with Donald Trump, despite him having three times as many accusers and his own admission of sexual assault. Why? Because they need him to enshrine the conservative agenda they have their hearts set on.

Republican leaders like Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Paul Ryan want tax cuts for the wealthy, along with the repeal of Obamacare. The prospect of legislation with those priorities arriving on Trump’s desk and getting his signature is enough of an inducement to ignore his decades of assaults against women.

McConnell openly said that the women who have accused Moore “are entirely credible.” But when he was asked about the women who have raise the alarm on Trump, he instead said, “we’re talking about the situation in Alabama.”

16 women have said Trump assaulted them. Like the women in Alabama, there are witnesses from the time of the assault who can back up their accounts.

Trump himself bragged about how to “grab ’em by the pussy,” and that “when you’re a star, they let you do it.”

In light of what is known about the Moore and Trump situations, the politically expedient path taken by Republicans is insultingly obvious.

Like his other behavior – racism, religious intolerance, and xenophobia – Republicans have chosen power over principles and morality. They need Trump in his position, no matter how unpopular he continues to be, to get their agenda into law.

If that means speaking out of both sides of their mouths, condemning Moore while slapping Trump on the back, that’s what Republicans have now actively chosen to accomplish.

What is to most people a simple, easy to handle moral moment has in the hands of Republican leaders become another nod towards depravity and hypocrisy. All done for power.