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Who is Roy Moore? Some background on man who beat Donald Trump’s candidate

WATCH ABOVE: Roy Moore wins Alabama GOP Senate primary – Sep 26, 2017

On Tuesday, conservative firebrand Roy Moore was elected as the Republican nominee to fill a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama vacated by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

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Moore, who was backed by former White House advisor Steve Bannon, defeated Luther Strange who had the support of U.S. President Donald Trump.

READ MORE: Roy Moore wins Alabama Senate primary over Trump pick Luther Strange

In ultra-conservative Alabama, Moore is expected to be a shoe-in to win against Democrat Doug Jones on Dec. 12.

WATCH: Roy Moore arrives to vote in Alabama senate race – on horseback

 

Moore rode to the polling station on horseback on Tuesday when he went to cast his ballot.

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While that may seem like a slightly odd choice, that is just the tip of the iceberg for Moore.

During a rally in Fairhope, Moore pulled out a revolver from his pocket and told his supporters that the negative ads that said he did not support the second amendment were lies.

READ MORE: Republican candidate for Senate pulls out gun on stage during campaign event

The 70-year-old’s biggest claim to fame is being removed from his position as the state’s top judge twice.

In the first case, he was forced to step down because he refused to take down a Ten Commandments display he had installed in the Alabama Supreme Court building. The monument was a 2,400 kilogram granite block which was three feet wide by three feet deep by four feet tall.

WATCH: Bannon touts Alabama GOP Senate decision a win for Trump, start of a ‘revolution’

Moore was removed from office in 2003 only to be elected again in 2012.

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In 2016, Moore ordered probate judges to essentially ignore the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges effectively legalized gay marriage.

Last September, he was suspended for the remainder of his term which was to end in 2019.

Just this past February, during a speech at a Baptist church, Moore suggested the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks may have occurred because the U.S. had distanced itself from God.

In an interview with The Guardian, Moore told the British newspaper that former U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s declaration that the Soviet Union was “the focus of evil in the modern world” could possibly be applied to the modern-day U.S.

“You could say that about America, couldn’t you?” he said. “We promote a lot of bad things.” Asked for an example, he replied: “Same-sex marriage.”

Moore also once told the Guardian he held praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s opposition to gay marriage and transgender troops.

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“If we’re going to file for hormone treatments and medical surgeries, that’s not making your military stronger. You’ve got to have a disciplined military,” he said.

Moore also has long held the belief that former U.S. President Barack Obama is not an American citizen.

“My opinion is, there is a big question about that,” Moore said.

— With files from Associated Press and Reuters

 

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