U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) and his Senate opponent, former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson, recently exchanged perspectives in back-to-back radio interviews, with the political newcomer seeking his shot at political office over Moore, whom he dubbed a career politician.
Moore and Hudson advanced to a runoff election last week after defeating Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall in the primary race.
The pair will now face one another on June 16 to decide the party's nominee for the seat soon to be vacated by U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn), who won the GOP gubernatorial nomination in the primary.
The pair appeared one after the other on Montgomery radio NewsTalk 93.1's "News and Views" with Joey Clark, with Hudson appearing first, followed by Moore.
The host, Clark, emphatically told Hudson that he had voted for Moore in the primary election and asked him to give his pitch on why that should change in the runoff.
"I would say, the biggest thing is, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results," Hudson responded. "The reason I'm running is because, for far too long, we've had career politicians that make backroom deals with special interest groups, and they don't deliver for the people that they're elected to represent. And that's why I'm running for the U.S. Senate, is because one, I'm not a career politician. Two, I'm a warfighter [and] a law enforcement officer who has actually done the work."
He continued, "Right now, we're in the position we're in because of 50 years of bad domestic and foreign policy. I believe I'm the best man for the job to make sure that we don't continue down that same road these career politicians have taken us down."
Hudson noted that Moore, who was elected to the Alabama State House of Representatives in 2010, had begun his political career while he was enlisted in the Navy.
"I was in the SEAL teams when I think he first took office, at least at the state level," Hudson continued. "I mean, he's been doing this for the last, I don't know, 16, 20 years. I think that's long enough to say, 'Hey! What has changed?' And, from what I've seen, I feel like it's only gotten worse."
Less than 30 minutes later, Moore also joined Clark's show, where he specifically addressed the accusation that he was a career politician, comparing his Washington tenure with that of President Donald Trump.
"My question is, is Donald Trump a career politician?" Moore asked. "Him and I have been in D.C. the exact same amount of time. I mean, we've been in D.C. for five-and-a-half years. If he's an outsider, I'm an outsider. And he knows I'm an ally, and that's why he endorsed me."
"I've literally walked away from two guaranteed re-elects in political office to do this job, because I was asked to do this job. That's a normal attack for anybody, but, honestly, if you're running for office, or you've been in office, you're always called a career politician. But I've literally been in D.C. the same amount of time as President Trump, so I think it falls on deaf ears," he added.
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