--- title: Ben Carson Splits From Trump, Endorses Roy Moore description: Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said on Friday that he supports the candidacy of Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate race canonical: https://time.com/4954537/ben-carson-roy-moore-donald-trump-luther-strange-alabama/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-22T22:50:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:34:00.906Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ben Carson Breaks With President Trump and Endorses Roy Moore in Alabama Race og:description: President Trump endorsed Roy Moore's opponent, Sen. Luther Strange og:url: https://time.com/4954537/ben-carson-roy-moore-donald-trump-luther-strange-alabama/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee5b411bfaa30cc3/6988df1c97cdff1fc66b290e/ben-carson-alabama-race.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Housing And Urban Development Department Secretary Ben Carson Testifies To Senate Committee On Department's Budget og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ben Carson Breaks With President Trump and Endorses Roy Moore in Alabama Race twitter:description: President Trump endorsed Roy Moore's opponent, Sen. Luther Strange twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee5b411bfaa30cc3/6988df1c97cdff1fc66b290e/ben-carson-alabama-race.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ben Carson Breaks With President Trump and Endorses Roy Moore in Alabama Senate Race by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Sep 22, 2017 10:50 PM UTC  Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson testifies during a hearing before the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee June 7, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson testifies during a hearing before the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee June 7, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.Alex Wong—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Sep 22, 2017 10:50 PM UTC Housing and Urban Development Secretary [Ben Carson](http://time.com/4793372/ben-carson-poverty-state-of-mind/) said on Friday that he supports the candidacy of Roy Moore in the race for the Republican Senate nomination in Alabama, breaking from his boss President Donald Trump, who has [endorsed Sen. Luther Strange](http://time.com/4952636/donald-trump-alabama-senate-runoff-luther-strange-roy-moore/). “Judge Moore is a fine man of proven character and integrity, who I have come to respect over the years,” Carson [said in a statement](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/09/22/ben-carson-breaks-with-trump-endorses-roy-moore-in-alabama-senate-nomination-race/?utm%5Fterm=.6e62b3ba0477). “He is truly someone who reflects the Judeo-Christian values that were so important to the establishment of our country. It is these values that we must return to in order to make America great again.” The announcement came hours before Trump’s [scheduled appearance in Alabama](http://time.com/4952636/donald-trump-alabama-senate-runoff-luther-strange-roy-moore/), where the president plans to campaign for Strange. Trump’s support for Strange has been perceived as a more [pragmatic decision by the president](http://time.com/4953574/luther-strange-roy-moore-alabama-debate/). Moore, a controversial figure in Alabama who has a [history](http://time.com/4953360/alabama-senate-race-roy-moore-quotes/) of making politically incorrect remarks, is more of a Trump-style candidate, garnering the support of former White House officials Stephen Bannon and Sebastian Gorka. Conservative voters in Alabama have said they are suspicious of Strange. Polls have shown that Moore is leading the election so far, although the contest appears to be tightening ahead of the runoff vote on Tuesday. “Luther Strange has gained mightily since my endorsement, but will be very close,” Trump tweeted Friday. “He loves Alabama, and so do I!” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4954537/ben-carson-roy-moore-donald-trump-luther-strange-alabama/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4954537/ben-carson-roy-moore-donald-trump-luther-strange-alabama/"},"headline":"Ben Carson Breaks With President Trump and Endorses Roy Moore in Alabama Senate Race","datePublished":"2017-09-22T22:50:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:34:00.906Z","description":"President Trump endorsed Roy Moore's opponent, Sen. Luther Strange","url":"https://time.com/4954537/ben-carson-roy-moore-donald-trump-luther-strange-alabama/","keywords":["Congress","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee5b411bfaa30cc3/6988df1c97cdff1fc66b290e/ben-carson-alabama-race.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee5b411bfaa30cc3/6988df1c97cdff1fc66b290e/ben-carson-alabama-race.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Housing And Urban Development Department Secretary Ben Carson Testifies To Senate Committee On Department's Budget","caption":"Housing And Urban Development Department Secretary Ben Carson Testifies To Senate Committee On Department's Budget","creditText":"Alex Wong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4954537/ben-carson-roy-moore-donald-trump-luther-strange-alabama/","name":"Ben Carson Breaks With President Trump and Endorses Roy Moore in Alabama Senate Race"}}]}] ```