Former Breitbart spokesman becomes a Democrat in response to Trump’s endorsement of alleged child sex abuser Roy Moore

'This is a party that no longer stands for anything,' Kurt Bardella writes

Former Alabama Chief Justice and US Senate candidate Roy Moore speaks at a campaign rally (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

A former Breitbart News spokesperson and life-long Republican has declared he is switching to the Democratic party over Donald Trump’s support of Senate candidate Roy Moore.

“The embrace of Moore by the Republican Party’s top ‘leadership’ is all the proof you need to know that this is a party that no longer stands for anything,” Kurt Bardella wrote in an op-ed for USA Today.

Mr Bardella is a political operative who has represented everyone from Breitbart News to Republican Senator Olympia Snowe. He made his announcement shortly after the President endorsed Mr Moore's campaign for the US Senate seat in Alabama.

Mr Trump’s endorsement triggered the Republican National Committee to resume funding Mr Moore’s campaign. The committee had cut off funding after multiple women told the Washington Post that Mr Moore had pursued them sexually when they were as young as 14. Mr Moore denies the allegations.

“President Trump and the Republican National Committee are endorsing, supporting and funding Moore because they would rather elect a sexual predator who preys on underage teenagers at the local mall, than a crime-fighting prosecutor who happens to be a Democrat,” Mr Bardella wrote, referring to Mr Moore’s Democratic competitor, former Alabama States Attorney Doug Jones.

Just that morning, Mr Trump had broadcast his continued support for Mr Moore, tweeting: “LAST thing the Make America Great Again Agenda needs is a Liberal Democrat in Senate where we have so little margin for victory already. The Pelosi/Schumer Puppet Jones would vote against us 100% of the time … VOTE ROY MOORE!”

Mr Bardella retweeted the missive, adding: “Exhibit A of everything that is wrong with the #gop.”

After cutting ties with Breitbart News in 2016 over their support of Mr Trump, Mr Bardella became a frequent critic of the conservative news site and its leader, Steve Bannon. In August 2016, he wrote an op-ed for the Hill titled, “On Steve Bannon and why I'm voting for Hillary”. He has also criticised the Republican party more broadly, chastising them earlier this year for not investigating the Trump White House for possible criminal activity.

But, Mr Bardella wrote in his most recent op-ed, it took the President’s support of Mr Moore to convince him to fully join hands with the other side.

“I am throwing in with the Democratic Party because at the end of the day, I believe its portrait of America is better than the one being painted by today’s Republican Party,” he wrote. “And I want to be a part of it.”