Republican candidate uses racial slur when trying to criticise racism

Contest has become proxy battle between Donald Trump and ex-strategist

Mr Moore is no stranger to controversy (The Hill )

One of two candidates battling to become a Republican senator in Alabama used racial slurs during a speech in which he sought to denounce divisions based on race.

Roy Moore, a former chief justice on the state’s highest court and a man with a long record of controversial comments, referred to “reds and yellows” - slurs that referred to Native Americans and Asian Americans.

“We were torn apart in the Civil War - brother against brother, north against south, party against party. What changed,” Mr Moore said in a campaign speech that was filmed.

According to footage obtained by The Hill, he added: “Now we have blacks and whites fighting, reds and yellows fighting, Democrats and Republicans fighting, men and women fighting. What’s going to unite us? What’s going to bring us back together? A president? A congress? No. It’s going to be God.”

Mr Moore, who in 2001 sparked controversy when he installed a 5,280lb granite block that contained the Declaration of Independence and the Ten Commandments in the Alabama Supreme Court building, is one of two candidates battling in the Republican primary.

The race to select a Republican candidate ahead of a special election in December, was triggered by the selection of former senator Jeff Sessions by Donald Trump to be his Attorney General. Mr Moore’s opponent in the race is Luther Strange, who has been filling the seat on a temporary basis, after being appointed by the state’s governor.

Interest in the race has increased since it was transformed into something of a proxy war between Donald Trump and Steve Bannon, the President’s former chief strategist who was fired last month and went back to his former home, Breitbart News.

Mr Trump has thrown his support behind Mr Strange and will travel to Alabama next weekend to campaign with him.

“I will be in Huntsville, Alabama, on Saturday night to support Luther Strange for Senate,” Mr Trump recently tweeted. “‘Big Luther’ is a great guy who gets things done.”

Meanwhile, Mr Moore, who last week suggested the 9/11 attacks may have been caused by a lack of religious faith, is being being supported by Mr Bannon. Politico said Mr Bannon last month told a closed-door session of the powerful Conservative Action Project in Washington, that Mr Moore was one of a number of anti-establishment Republican candidates he was preparing to support.

The news site said Mr Bannon’s support could have a major impact on the race, given his close relationship with Robert Mercer, the reclusive billionaire hedge-fund manager who has funded his political projects.

It said Breitbart has published a number of flattering stories about Mr Moore in recent days and promoted an endorsement he received from former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

The two candidates are due to meet this week for a special debate. A poll released on Monday by Louisiana-based JMC Analytics and Polling, gave Mr Moore an eight-point lead over Mr Strange. Voting takes place on September 26.