Trump deletes tweets in support of Luther Strange after Strange’s loss

In a last-ditch attempt to spur GOP establishment favorite Luther Strange to victory in Alabama’s special election primary, President Donald Trump tweeted support for Strange multiple times Tuesday — only to delete his tweets after Strange lost the primary to former Judge Roy Moore.

On the Monday before the election, Trump tweeted, “Big election tomorrow in the Great State of Alabama. Vote for Senator Luther Strange, tough on crime & border - will never let you down!”

Tuesday morning he repeated his endorsement, tweeting, “Luther Strange has been shooting up in the Alabama polls since my endorsement. Finish the job - vote today for ‘Big Luther,’” and, “ALABAMA, get out and vote for Luther Strange - he has proven to me that he will never let you down! #MAGA.”

However, as ProPublica’s Politwoops project, which tracks deleted tweets of elected officials, reports, these three tweets were deleted Tuesday night after Strange lost the primary around 9:30 pm.

Luther was appointed to Jeff Sessions’s former senate seat when Sessions became Trump’s attorney general. Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell backed Strange, and an establishment PAC reportedly spent $10 million on his campaign — but as the GOP primary runoff Tuesday drew nearer, Strange ultimately couldn’t catch up to Moore, who was consistently in the lead. Moore is a religious conservative who, as Vox’s Jeff Stein has written, “argues that Christian principles — or, more accurately, Moore’s interpretation of Christian principles — should provide the foundation for, and even supersede, the laws of men.” Moore has refused to follow federal court orders that he says conflict with his beliefs.

After Moore’s win, Trump was quick to tweet a new message congratulating him.

Wednesday morning, Trump tweeted again to support Moore.

Moore will run against Democratic nominee Doug Jones in December, and because Alabama is a deeply conservative state, Moore is widely expected to win.