Roy Moore, the Republican candidate for the Alabama Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, doesn’t mind putting on a show. Whether it’s being interviewed by a 12-year-old girl or allowing his military buddies to tell a story about his denying child prostitutes (to presumably prove the accusations of sexual misconduct with minors levied against him are unfounded), the former state judge doesn’t seem all that shy when it comes to favorable media coverage. Hence why, for the second time in his quest to occupy Alabama’s empty U.S. Senate seat, Moore arrived at his polling station on horseback.
This time, however, Moore reportedly rode a horse named “Sassy” instead of his own horse “Sundance,” whom he rode to the polls during his Republican primary run-off against Luther Strange, President Donald Trump’s initial endorsee. Needless to say, Moore’s arrival on Sassy’s back prompted plenty of reactions from the cable news channels who briefly covered the moment, as well as from other journalists, media critics, and trolls following along on Twitter.
“He’s doing it in a most unusual way, on horseback!” said one Fox News co-anchor, adding: “This is the same candidate who once pulled out a pistol on stage to show his support for the Second Amendment.” As for Moore’s Democratic opponent Doug Jones, the Fox News team acknowledged he had “voted earlier today… in the conventional way,” but admitted they weren’t sure since they “didn’t actually check.” The co-anchors proceeded to comment on the horse’s look and how much they liked it, but ultimately had to cut out when the camera operator began to swing wildly while trying to get a closer shot.
Meanwhile, CNN’s team apparently couldn’t hold it together while Moore arrived on horseback during the same live shot.
Roy Moore arrives on horseback to vote in the Alabama Senate race https://t.co/d29FBHBa3l
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 12, 2017
As for MSNBC, they put the poor-quality shot of Moore’s arrival in a splitscreen.
WATCH: Roy Moore rides his horse ‘Sassy’ to his polling place to cast his ballot in Alabama’s contentious special election pic.twitter.com/J4qVQjiDt2
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) December 12, 2017
Cue the jokes.
Good morning! Roy Moore, on this 12th day of December, intends to ride “Sassy” the horse—if she cooperates—to his polling place in Gallant.
— Vaughn Hillyard (@VaughnHillyard) December 12, 2017
HAPPENING NOW: Roy Moore has arrived at a polling station. 😂 pic.twitter.com/zHA9c99mLL
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) December 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/EmilyPurser/status/940626414650437632
In fairness to Roy Moore, he has to ride a horse to the polling station because the road goes within 100ft of the mall
— Fred Delicious 🍆 (@Fred_Delicious) December 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/evepeyser/status/940623043243708420