On Tuesday, the Republican stronghold of Alabama elected Doug Jones, a Democrat, to the U.S. Senate following a campaign marked by allegations of sexual misconduct against Roy Moore, his GOP rival. The outcome signaled that Republicans, led by Donald Trump, backed a candidate that even many of their own supporters (to their credit), rejected, exit polls showed.
Earlier on Tuesday, about 4,482 miles from Birmingham, French President Emmanuel Macron, hosted a climate summit in Paris. He did not invite Trump – a sort of time-out for the U.S. president after the latter backtracked in June from the international climate accord.
Taken together, the results and the rebuke make the week seem like a moment for hopefulness and clarity. Here, in our opinion, are five of the heroes who emerged:
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand: The Democrat from New York called on President Trump to resign and for Congress to investigate multiple allegations of sexual harassment and assault against him. The president, who denies the claims (and, falsely, that he never met the women who leveled them), took to Twitter to attack Gillibrand as a senator who used to come “begging for campaign contributions… and would do anything for them.”
You cannot silence me or the millions of women who have gotten off the sidelines to speak out about the unfitness and shame you have brought to the Oval Office. https://t.co/UbQZqubXZv
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) December 12, 2017
The senator (among others) termed Trump’s reply “a sexist smear” that was intended to silence her. “You cannot silence me or the millions of women who have gotten off the sidelines to speak about the unfitness and shame you have brought to the Oval Office,” she said.
African-American voters in Alabama: Black voters made up 29% of the vote on Tuesday night, and they turned out overwhelmingly for Doug Jones, who won 49.9% of the vote. Ninety-eight percent of African-American women and 93% of men voted for Jones.
https://twitter.com/BurkeCNN/status/940798133579198464
That compares with 35% of white women and 27% of white men who voted for the Democrat. Turnout by black voters in the off-year contest topped that in the race for governor three years ago. “Following last month’s elections in Virginia and New Jersey, when African-Americans helped vault Democrats to victories, the Alabama race is another sign that the party’s most loyal voters are fired up,” the Times reported.
The Washington Post: On Nov. 9, reporters Stephanie McCrummen, Beth Reinhard and Alice Crites detailed allegations by Leigh Corfman, who said that Moore initiated a sexual relationship with her in 1979, when she was 14 and he was 32. Over the weeks that ensued, the Post reported on allegations by a total of eight women who described misconduct or sexual assault by Moore over a period of years. Seven of the women were teenagers at the time of the alleged misconduct; Moore was in his 30s. In the election on Tuesday, two-thirds of women who have children under the age of 18 supported Doug Jones, Moore’s Democratic opponent, giving him a 34-point margin among that group, exits polls showed.
Senator Richard Shelby: In 1994, the Republican from Alabama betrayed Democrats when he switched parties. On Sunday, he made up for it by saying publicly he “couldn’t vote” for Moore and would write in “a distinguished Republican name” instead. Shelby added that the found allegations of sexual misconduct against Moore “credible” and “believable.” The break with his party by the senior senator from the state helped to mark Moore as unfit to hold public office (or any office) on the eve of an election that sent the first Democratic from Alabama to the Senate since 1992.
Emmanuel Macron: The French president hosted a meeting of dozens of world leaders to take steps to address the threat of climate change without the participation of the U.S. government.
8 États de l’ouest des États-Unis lancent ensemble une initiative sur les transports propres. #OnePlanet #OnePlanetSummit
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) December 12, 2017
The One Planet Summit highlighted the world’s determination to meet climate goals regardless of a decision in June by the Trump administration to abandon the Paris accord. On Tuesday, Macron, called the decision by Trump “very bad news” and warned against complacency in the effort to rein in global warming. The French leader also noted that eight U.S. states have launched an initiative on clean transport.